NEW YORK: The bright explosions of dead stars have been used for years to light the far-flung reaches of our cosmos. The explosions, called Type Ia supernovae, enable astronomers to measure the distances to galaxies and gauge the ever-increasing rate at which our universe is stretching apart.
But these tools aren’t perfect. In the cosmic hardware store of our universe, improvements are ongoing.
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In new report astronomers identify the best, top-of-the-line Type Ia supernovae for measuring cosmic distances, pushing other, more clunky tools to the back of the shelf.
Using archived data from NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), scientists show that a particular class of Type Ia supernovae that occur near youthful stars can improve these measurements with a precision of more than two times that achieved before.
