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A Method for the Measurement of the Distance of Radio Stars

Abstract

THE existence of a large number of discrete sources of extraterrestrial radio radiation (radio stars) has now been established. For the majority of the sources there is no information about their distance; only a few have been identified with celestial objects observed photographically. Attempts to measure the radio parallax of the sources have been made by Ryle1, Mills and Thomas2 and Smith3. These experiments failed to measure any parallax and could only establish that the radio stars were at a distance greater than ½ parsec. The present communication describes a new method for the measurement of the distance of radio stars in the Galaxy, and gives preliminary results for the two intense sources in Cygnus and Cassiopeia.

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WILLIAMS, D., DAVIES, R. A Method for the Measurement of the Distance of Radio Stars. Nature 173, 1182–1183 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/1731182a0

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