What is parallax in astronomy?

The apparent shift in a nearby star's position observed from two points in Earth's orbit.

How is distance calculated from parallax angle?

Distance in parsecs = 1 ÷ parallax angle in arcseconds.

Why does parallax only work for nearby stars?

The angle becomes too small to measure accurately for very distant stars.

Parallax Distance Calculator - CalculatorLabs.net

Parallax Distance Calculator

Parallax is the tiny apparent shift in a nearby star's position when viewed from opposite sides of Earth's orbit.

Parallax Angle p (arcseconds)

Instant Result

Distance (parsecs) -

Distance (light-years) -

What Is a Stellar Parallax Distance Calculator?

Parallax is the tiny apparent shift in a nearby star's position when viewed from opposite sides of Earth's orbit. The smaller that shift, the farther away the star is — giving astronomers a direct, geometric way to measure stellar distances.

How to Use This Stellar Parallax Distance Calculator

Measure or look up the star's parallax angle in arcseconds.
Enter that value into the field above.
Click Calculate to get the distance in parsecs and light-years.

Formula

Distance (parsecs) = 1 / parallax angle (arcseconds)
Distance (light-years) = Distance (parsecs) × 3.26156

Worked Example

Proxima Centauri has a parallax of about 0.769 arcseconds. Distance = 1/0.769 ≈ 1.30 pc ≈ 4.24 light-years — matching its known distance as the nearest star to the Sun.