b'They believe their method of using binary stars for determining distances is robust . . . 51.050.550.049.549.048.548.0Distance (kpc)67 196869Dec.70717290.087.585.082.580.077.575.072.5RAThe locations and distances of the 20 eclipsing binary stars studied in the Large Magellanic Cloud are shown in the diagram (above). Ian Thomspon, in the image above, works on instrumentationDifferent colors indicate different distances to each system, per the in addition to making astronomical observations.bar at top. Image reprinted with permission Pietrzynski, G., et al., A distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud that is preciseImage courtesy Scott Rubel, Carnegie Institution for Science to one per cent, Nature, Vol. 567, 200-203 (2019) doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-0999-4The astronomers then measured the changesfinal measured distance to the LMC is 49.6 +/- 0.5 in brightnesses as the binary stars eclipse, theirkiloparsecs, or 162,000 light years. orbital speeds, and the colors of the stars. With these data they determined the masses, stellarThe team believes that their method of using radii, and intrinsic brightnesses (from the surfacebinary stars for determining distances is robust for brightnesscolor calibration) of the individual starscalibrating cosmological distances. They expect in the binary systems. The distance to each binary,the accuracy of their method will be verified by and therefore to the LMC, comes from comparingcomparison with other methods and data from the the stars apparent brightness with their intrinsicGaia mission, which is making the largest and most brightness. After a detailed accounting for statisticaldetailed map of our galaxy and its environment. and systematic errors by extensive modeling, the'