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spectroscopic parallax

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | 413 words | Copyright

spectroscopic parallax A method of estimating the distance of a star by comparing its apparent magnitude with its absolute magnitude. The star's absolute magnitude is deduced from its spectral type and luminosity class, which are found by examining its spectrum. Spectroscopic parallax is the most common method of determining the distances of stars that are too distant to show a reliable trigonometric parallax.

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