Question

Hi everybody, I'm new to OCW...just happen to glance through the course notes of Module-1 Units and Dimensions,& happen to learn that the standard Astronomical unit is a Parsec,well my question is, can someone show a pictorial representation of the definition of Parsec. Should the object whose distance is being measured always be along the vertical axis of the sun to the plane containing sun and earth, inorder to maintain perpendicularity to the line connecting the earth and sun? How is the pictorial representation of the definition if the object does not fall on the vertical axis of the sun?

Answer 1

http://tinyurl.com/l4rhaxp
Try out this simple picture. There's also this one.
http://tinyurl.com/la28wla