What characteristic allows Type Ia Supernovae to function as useful standard candles?
Answer
They explode reaching nearly the same peak absolute luminosity consistently
Type Ia Supernovae are exceptionally valuable for measuring intergalactic distances because they are thought to possess a remarkably uniform maximum intrinsic brightness upon explosion. These explosions occur when white dwarf stars reach a critical mass limit, resulting in a consistent peak absolute luminosity. Because astronomers can reliably estimate how intrinsically bright the explosion truly was, they can compare this known value to how dim the explosion appears from Earth to accurately calculate the distance to the host galaxy, even across vast cosmic scales where other methods fail.
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