Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,528,122,060 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

parallax
(redirected from parallaxes)

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
par·al·lax  (pr-lks)
n.
An apparent change in the direction of an object, caused by a change in observational position that provides a new line of sight.

[French parallaxe, from Greek parallaxis, from parallassein, to change : para-, among; see para-1 + allassein, to exchange (from allos, other; see al-1 in Indo-European roots).]

paral·lactic (-lktk) adj.
click for a larger image
parallax
The apparent position of a star among more distant stars changes when viewed from opposite sides of the earth's orbit.

parallax
Noun
an apparent change in an object's position due to a change in the observer's position [Greek parallaxis change]

parallax  (pr-lks)
An apparent shift in the position of an object, such as a star, caused by a change in the observer's position that provides a new line of sight. The parallax of nearby stars caused by observing them from opposite points in Earth's orbit around the Sun is used in estimating the stars' distance from Earth through triangulation.
click for a larger image
parallax
Viewed from point A, a nearby star appears to occupy position a against a background of more distant stars. Six months later, from point B, the star appears to occupy position b.

In photography, the apparent displacement of the position of an object in relation to a reference point, due to a change in the point of observation.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.parallaxparallax - the apparent displacement of an object as seen from two different points that are not on a line with the object
optical phenomenon - a physical phenomenon related to or involving light
annual parallax, heliocentric parallax - the parallax of a celestial body using two points in the earth's orbit around the sun as the baseline
diurnal parallax, geocentric parallax - the parallax of a celestial body using two points on the surface of the earth as the earth rotates


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Add definition
? Mentioned in
 
Dictionary/thesaurus browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.