Type Ia supernovae can be used as standard candles to measure extragalactic distances, which can in turn be used to measure how fast the universe has expanded in the past. Data indicates the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, the cause of which is usually ascribed to dark energy. Since observations indicate the universe is almost flat, it is expected the total energy density of everything in the universe should sum to 1 (Ω tot ≈ 1). The measured dark energy density is Ω Λ ≈ 0.690 ; the observed ordinary (baryonic) matter energy density is Ω b ≈ 0.0482 and the energy density of radiation is negligible. This leaves a missing Ω dm ≈ 0.258 which nonetheless behaves like matter (see technical definition section above) – dark matter.