Episode 1 of 2
Observation Period
- When
- 1832-1833
- Where
- Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope
Henderson conducted exacting positional observations of Alpha Centauri AB between April 1832 and May 1833 to determine its parallax.
He analyzed many astrometric mural circle observations. The large proper motion discovered by Johnson suggested the star was close, making parallax measurement feasible. Henderson suspected his results were too large to be true, leading to a delay in publication.
Sources
- Alpha Centauri Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-03
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.