# Calculate Distance To Stars

I was just watching a lecture from Carl Sagan. He talked about figuring out the distance to the stars; it got me interested in learning more about the subject.

As far as I know, the Inverse square law and parallax can be used. Can anyone expand on these? Specifically with regards to what I could do to measure the distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri.

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In order for you to use the inverse square law you must know the distance first (unless you use what's known as a standard candle). –  astromax Nov 13 '13 at 12:56
For Proxima Centauri, just use parallax. Record the position of Proxima Centauri (against the "fixed" stars further away from it) 6 months apart, and use the angular distance and the diameter of the Earth's orbit (about 186 million miles) to find the distance. –  barrycarter Nov 17 '13 at 7:01
As I have outlined in the comments below, the accepted answer here is barely relevant to standard techniques of determining distance to stars in astronomy. Relevant info can be found instead, e.g. in this reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopic_parallax –  Alexey Bobrick Nov 21 '13 at 14:23