A Novel Method to Calculate Objects’ Apparent Size

The angular diameter is the angle subtended by a generic object – an apple or a star – to the eye of an observer, and it describes how large the object appears from a given viewpoint. The angular diameter represents a powerful tool for distance calculations starting from directly measurable information and it finds application in several contexts varying from cosmography to architecture. In this article, the author proposes a novel equation to calculate the apparent diameter of whatever object. This equation defines a relation between the initial distance R0 at which the observed object is located and the object’s apparent diameter. Based on the preliminary tests conducted, the model seems to faithfully portrait this relation with respect to measured values, also at the astronomical scale, thus considering the Earth-Moon distance, where, the absolute error detected is about 0.56%. The tests highlighted also a dependency between the results accuracy and the measurement conditions suggesting a high level of sensibility linked to the initial magnification effect produced by the retina or the artificial lens employed.