Universe measured to 1% accuracy

Astronomers have measured the distances between galaxies in the universe to an accuracy of just 1%, the BBC reports. 

This staggeringly precise survey - across six billion light-years - is key to mapping the cosmos and determining the nature of dark energy.

The new gold standard was set by BOSS (the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) using the Sloan Foundation Telescope in New Mexico, US.

It was announced at the 223rd American Astronomical Society in Washington DC.

"There are not many things in our daily lives that we know to 1% accuracy," said Prof David Schlegel, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the principal investigator of BOSS.

"I now know the size of the universe better than I know the size of my house.

"Twenty years ago astronomers were arguing about estimates that differed by up to 50%. Five years ago, we'd refined that uncertainty to 5%; a year ago it was 2%.

"One percent accuracy will be the standard for a long time to come."