Distance
The parallax of the two brightest stars were measured as part of the Hipparcos astrometry mission. This yielded a parallax of 47.44 milliarcseconds for 16 Cygni A and 47.14 milliarcseconds for 16 Cygni B. Since the two components are associated, it is reasonable to assume they lie at the same distance, so the different parallaxes are a result of experimental error (indeed, when the associated parallax errors are taken into account, the ranges of the parallaxes overlap). Using the parallax of the A component, the distance is 21.1 parsecs. The parallax of the B component corresponds to a distance of 21.2 parsecs.
Read more about this topic: 16 Cygni
Famous quotes containing the word distance:
“I am considered a misanthropist now and then, because I do not socialize with many people. But it’s only my mind that avoids you, my heart is still with you, and seeks the distance so that it can keep on loving you.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Why does the past look so enticing to us? For the same reason why from a distance a meadow with flowers looks like a flower bed.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Midway the lake we took on board two manly-looking middle-aged men.... I talked with one of them, telling him that I had come all this distance partly to see where the white pine, the Eastern stuff of which our houses are built, grew, but that on this and a previous excursion into another part of Maine I had found it a scarce tree; and I asked him where I must look for it. With a smile, he answered that he could hardly tell me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)