Observational tools like telescopes, satellites, and space probes are super important for measuring how far away things are in space. They help scientists understand the universe in a few key ways:
Parallax Method: Astronomers look at nearby stars from different spots as Earth moves around the Sun. This helps them figure out how far away those stars are using some basic math called trigonometry.
Standard Candles: The Hubble Space Telescope and other tools look at certain stars, like Cepheids. They measure how bright these stars are and use that information to guess their distance, since we already know how bright they should be.
Cosmic Microwave Background: Satellites collect information about the universe when it was very young. This data helps scientists improve their distance measurements across the entire universe.
When these methods work together, they give us a better understanding of the huge universe around us!
Observational tools like telescopes, satellites, and space probes are super important for measuring how far away things are in space. They help scientists understand the universe in a few key ways:
Parallax Method: Astronomers look at nearby stars from different spots as Earth moves around the Sun. This helps them figure out how far away those stars are using some basic math called trigonometry.
Standard Candles: The Hubble Space Telescope and other tools look at certain stars, like Cepheids. They measure how bright these stars are and use that information to guess their distance, since we already know how bright they should be.
Cosmic Microwave Background: Satellites collect information about the universe when it was very young. This data helps scientists improve their distance measurements across the entire universe.
When these methods work together, they give us a better understanding of the huge universe around us!