<p>Betelgeuse is large and close enough that it's angular diameter can be measured directly (via optical interferometry etc...)</p>

<p>When you have the angular diameter, knowing the distance lets you calculate the radius with simple trigonometry.</p>

<p>The fact that Betelgeuse has such a large angular diameter has actually made parallax measurements more difficult, because you are measuring the relative movement of a disc that's not insignificant in angular diameter compared to its angular parallax movement, instead of a single point.  So the distance to Betelgeuse has been more uncertain than might normally be expected from a relatively nearby star.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-02T14:56:36.080Z
2020-04-02T14:56:36.080Z
antlersoft
<p>The radius of Betelgeuse was measured using parallax. From the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#2000s_studies" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia article</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>the estimated parallax from the Hipparcos mission was 7.63±1.64 mas, yielding an estimated radius for Betelgeuse of 3.6 AU. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>I understand how a distance can be determined using parallax, but I don't understand how the radius can.</p>

<p>What is the math behind deriving a radius from a parallax measurement?</p>

<parallax><betelgeuse><radius>
How can the radius of a star be measured using parallax?
usernumber
# How can the radius of a star be measured using parallax?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-02)

The radius of Betelgeuse was measured using parallax. From the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#2000s_studies):

> the estimated parallax from the Hipparcos mission was 7.63±1.64 mas, yielding an estimated radius for Betelgeuse of 3.6 AU.

I understand how a distance can be determined using parallax, but I don't understand how the radius can.

What is the math behind deriving a radius from a parallax measurement?

**Tags:** parallax, betelgeuse, radius


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-04-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Betelgeuse is large and close enough that it's angular diameter can be measured directly (via optical interferometry etc...)

When you have the angular diameter, knowing the distance lets you calculate the radius with simple trigonometry.

The fact that Betelgeuse has such a large angular diameter has actually made parallax measurements more difficult, because you are measuring the relative movement of a disc that's not insignificant in angular diameter compared to its angular parallax movement, instead of a single point. So the distance to Betelgeuse has been more uncertain than might normally be expected from a relatively nearby star.


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