Is the expansion of the universe accelerating for some unknown reason? This is one of the mysteries plaguing astrophysics, and somewhere in distant galaxies are yet-unseen supernovae that may hold the key. Now, thanks to a telescope calibrated by scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Harvard University, and the University of Hawaii, astrophysicists can be more certain of one day obtaining an accurate answer.

The NIST scientists traveled to the summit of Haleakala volcano in Hawaii to fine-tune the operation of billions of light-collecting pixels in the Pan-STARRS telescope, which scans the heavens for Type IA supernovae. These dying stars always shine with the same luminosity as other Type IA supernovae, making them useful to observers as “standard candles” for judging distance in the universe. Any apparent shift in the supernova’s spectrum gives a measure of how the universe has expanded (or contracted) as the light traveled from the supernova to Earth.

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