Reported distance to Betelgeuse

[Ian Hargraves]

The reported distance to Betelgeuse 427.47 lys is at odds with currently accepted figure of 197 +/- 45 pc=642lys.

Hipparcos catalogue suggests 131 +/- 30 pc = 427lys

Does Stellarium use the Hipparcos data set? If so there are still major issues with some of the Hipparcos distances and this is probably the cause of the problem.

[Alexander Wolf (alexwolf)]

Yes, we used Hipparcos for bright stars

[Ian Hargraves (ihargraves)]

Ok thanks, will make a note of that in future.

Great piece of software though! It must be the best photorealistic planetarium software available.

We are demonstrating it at public astronomy exhibitions and suggesting that members of the public who are just getting interested in astronomy should download Stellarium to help them learn the night sky.

Regards
Ian Hargraves
Mid Kent Astronomical Society.

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of Alexander Wolf
Sent: 04 February 2012 11:13
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 926588] Re: Reported distance to Betelgeuse

Yes, we used Hipparcos for bright stars

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Title:
  Reported distance to Betelgeuse

Status in Stellarium:
  New

Bug description:
  The reported distance to Betelgeuse 427.47 lys is at odds with
  currently accepted figure of 197 +/- 45 pc=642lys.

  Hipparcos catalogue suggests 131 +/- 30 pc = 427lys

  Does Stellarium use the Hipparcos data set? If so there are still
  major issues with some of the Hipparcos distances and this is probably
  the cause of the problem.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
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[Alexander Wolf (alexwolf)]

A fix has been committed as revision 6016 of the trunk branch in Stellarium's Bazaar repository at Launchpad:
http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~stellarium/stellarium/trunk/revision/6016