Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Eccentricity of an Ellipse

Eccentricity of an Ellipse

An ellipse is a fundamental conic section defined by the constant sum of distances from any point on its curve to two fixed points, known as the foci. This geometric property can be physically demonstrated using a pencil, string, and two pins. By anchoring the string at both ends and maintaining it taut with a pencil, one can trace the outline of an ellipse.The shape and extent of the ellipse are determined by its eccentricity, e, defined as the ratio of the distance between the center and a...

Reduced Mass Coordinates: Isolated Two-body Problem

Reduced Mass Coordinates: Isolated Two-body Problem

In classical mechanics, the two-body problem is one of the fundamental problems describing the motion of two interacting bodies under gravity or any other central force. When considering the motion of two bodies, one of the most important concepts is the reduced mass coordinates, a quantity that allows the two-body problem to be solved like a single-body problem. In these circumstances, it is assumed that a single body with reduced mass revolves around another body fixed in a position with an...

Detection of Black Holes

Detection of Black Holes

Although black holes were theoretically postulated in the 1920s, they remained outside the domain of observational astronomy until the 1970s.
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...

Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon

Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon

No object with a finite mass can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. This fact has an interesting consequence in the domain of extremely high gravitational fields.
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape velocity with the...

Margin of Error

Margin of Error

The margin of error is also called the maximum error of an estimate. The margin of error is the maximum possible or expected difference between the observed sample parameter value and the actual population parameter value. For proportion, it is the maximum difference between the value of sample proportion obtained from the data and the true value of population proportion. As the true value of the population parameter is not known, the margin of error is calculated using the sample statistic.

Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion

Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion

In the early 17th century, German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler postulated three laws for the motion of planets in the solar system. His first law states that all planets orbit the Sun in an elliptical orbit, with the Sun at one of the ellipse's foci. Therefore, the distance of a planet from the Sun varies throughout its revolution around the Sun.
While in an elliptical orbit, the total energy of the planet is conserved. Therefore, the planet slows down when it is at apogee and...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Prevalence of male DNA on female worn undergarments. How small datasets may support robust opinions in activity level evaluative reporting.

Forensic science international·2024

Same author

A helium-burning white dwarf binary as a supersoft X-ray source.

Nature·2023

Same author

The Ogden and the extended tube model as backbone in describing electroactive polymers: advancements in modelling nonlinear behaviour and fracture.

Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences·2022

Same author

The frequency of snowline-region planets from four-years of OGLE-MOA-Wise second-generation microlensing.

Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society·2020

Same author

What is in our seas? Assessing anthropogenic litter on the seafloor of the central Mediterranean Sea.

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)·2020

Same author

Could shared decision making affect staying in hospital? A cross-sectional pilot study.

BMC health services research·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves

Published on: May 10, 2020

An eclipsing-binary distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud accurate to two per cent.

G Pietrzyński¹, D Graczyk, W Gieren

¹Universidad de Concepción, Departamento de Astronomía, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile. pietrzyn@astrouw.edu.pl

|March 8, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Astronomers precisely measured the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud using cool eclipsing binary stars. This improves the accuracy of the Hubble constant, crucial for understanding cosmic expansion.

More Related Videos

Simulating Imaging of Large Scale Radio Arrays on the Lunar Surface

Simulating Imaging of Large Scale Radio Arrays on the Lunar Surface

Published on: July 30, 2020

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO

Published on: February 12, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 13, 2026

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves

Published on: May 10, 2020

Simulating Imaging of Large Scale Radio Arrays on the Lunar Surface

Simulating Imaging of Large Scale Radio Arrays on the Lunar Surface

Published on: July 30, 2020

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO

Published on: February 12, 2013

Area of Science:

Cosmology
Astrophysics
Stellar Astronomy

Background:

Determining the Hubble constant accurately is essential for precision cosmology.
The uncertainty in the Hubble constant is currently limited by the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Eclipsing binaries are valuable tools for precise stellar parameter and distance measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with improved accuracy.
To provide a more reliable anchor for the cosmic distance scale.
To enable a more precise determination of the Hubble constant.

Main Methods:

Studied eight long-period, late-type eclipsing binary systems in the LMC composed of cool, giant stars.
Accurately measured both linear and angular sizes of the binary components.
Avoided the complexities associated with modeling hot, early-type eclipsing systems.

Main Results:

Derived an LMC distance of 49.97 ± 0.19 (statistical) ± 1.11 (systematic) kiloparsecs.
Achieved a distance accuracy of 2.2 per cent for the LMC.
This result provides a firm foundation for a 3 per cent determination of the Hubble constant.

Conclusions:

The use of late-type eclipsing binaries offers a more accurate method for LMC distance determination.
The improved LMC distance significantly reduces a key uncertainty in Hubble constant calculations.
Future prospects indicate potential for even greater accuracy (2 per cent) in Hubble constant measurements.