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The problem: proper motion. Stars move with respect to each other in the Milky Way because none of their orbits are exactly the same. We measure two components of stellar motion: R adial velocity towards/away from us (using Doppler effect) Proper motion in plane of the sky
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The problem: proper motion Stars move with respect to each other in the Milky Way because none of their orbits are exactly the same. We measure two components of stellar motion: Radial velocity towards/away from us (using Doppler effect) Proper motion in plane of the sky Largest proper motion measured is about 10 arcsec/year Largest parallax measured is about 1 arcsec So need to remove effect of proper motion before we can measure parallax
Movie shows proper motion of stars in the field of the Big Dipper from 100,000 BC to 100000 AD; courtesy Rick Pogge OSU