Parallax is a displacement and disorientation of an object viewed along different lines of sight. Confused? Me too. Look at the picture. January and July represent two different points of view. If you are in July and you're looking at Star A- you would assume Star C is indeed the star behind A. However, my dears- our universe and all of its elements are matters of perspective. If you are in January, you will assume star B is behind A.
Really- it's just a perspective shift.
Interesting tidbit: Nearby objects have a larger parallax than more distant objects when observed from different positions, so parallax can be used to determine distances. In astronomy, parallax is the only direct method by which distances to objects (typically stars) beyond the Solar System can be measured.
Finally it is true when Obi Wan in Star Wars said "Your eyes will deceive you, don't trust them".
Is it UBER geeky that I know that???
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