•4. One of the
nearest and brightest stars in the (southern) sky is Alpha Centauri. Assume that its radius is the same as that of the sun. The distance to Alpha Centauri can be found in Appendix A of the text. Assuming a perfect telescope and no atmospheric turbulence, what is the angular diameter (not radius!) of the star as seen from Earth?
•7 x 10-3 arcseconds.
–Angular
diameter = 206265 arcsec x 2Rsun
– 4.3
light years