New side job for planet-hunting Kepler telescope: measure size ofuniverse

"Developed for the search for new planets, Kepler’s main task is to look
for planets by monitoring the brightness of 100,000 stars.

Dr Penny, a member of a 200-strong international team, will use the same
data to study a much smaller sample of stars and resolve a possible
problem with our measurement of the size of the universe.

He said these variable stars—known as cepheids—form the base of a series
of steps by which we measure the distance to distant galaxies and,
through them, the size of the universe.”"
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2...12950890t0.asp