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Physics

Large-Scale Structure and the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Standard Ruler

Quick fact

The baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signal appears as a subtle enhancement in galaxy clustering at a separation of about 500 million light-years—a scale set by sound waves in the early Universe.

Why this is interesting

When you look at a map of the Universe, you see a tangled web of galaxies—but hidden in that web is a cosmic echo from the Big Bang, a standard ruler 500 million light-years long. How can a single cosmic feature measure the farthest distances?