![]() That speed decreases more as you go farther north or south. The cosine of 45 is 0.707, so the spin speed at 45 degrees is roughly 0.707 x 1037 = 733 mph (1,180 km/h). A good scientific calculator should have a cosine function available if you don't know how to calculate it. If we move halfway up the globe to 45 degrees in latitude (either north or south), you calculate the speed by using the cosine (a trigonometric function) of the latitude. You won't be moving quite as fast at other latitudes, however. Related: Check out some stunning images of Earth from space ![]() This produces a speed at the equator of about 1,037 mph (1,670 km/h). (This area is also called the equator.) If you estimate that a day is 24 hours long, you divide the circumference by the length of the day. The circumference (distance around the largest part of the Earth) is roughly 24,898 miles (40,070 kilometers), according to NASA. With a bit of simple calculation, using parallax we can also figure out the distance to that star.Įarth's spin is constant, but the speed depends on what latitude you are located at. We see the star from different vantage points. If we look at a star (located relatively close to us) in the summer and look at it again in the winter, its apparent position in the sky changes because we are at different points in our orbit. It takes about 365 days for us to orbit the sun. The same thing happens on Earth when we look at stars. That's because your left and right eyes are looking at the finger with slightly different angles. Then close your right eye, and look at the finger with your left. Look at it with your left eye only, closing your right eye. ![]() For a simple example of parallax, hold up your index finger in front of your face at arm's length. Another reason that humans started to realize that we might not be the center of the universe came from looking at parallax, or apparent change in the position of the stars with respect to each other.
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