The word parsec is a portmanteau of "parallax of one second" and was coined by the British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner in 1913 to make calculations of astronomical distances from only raw observational data easy for astronomers.
Who invented the term parsec?
In short, “parsec” is a portmanteau-name (PARallax of one SECond of arc) proposed by Herbert Hall Turner in 1913 to characterize one unit of stellar distances.
What is the meaning of parsecs?
parsec, unit for expressing distances to stars and galaxies, used by professional astronomers. It represents the distance at which the radius of Earth's orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc. ... One parsec equals 3.26 light-years, which is equivalent to 3.09 × 1013 km (1.92 × 1013 miles).
