"Red Giant Baritones: Refining Cosmic Distances"

A study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by EPFL professor Richard I. Anderson and colleagues refines cosmic distance measurements using the acoustic oscillations of red giant stars, offering a more nuanced approach to measuring distances across the universe. By analyzing data from the Large Magellanic Cloud, the researchers found that the brightness fluctuations of red giants allow for distinguishing stars by age, crucial for highly accurate distance measurements required for cosmology and for obtaining the best map of the local universe. This refinement may lead to groundbreaking new insights into the basic physical processes that decide how the universe evolves.