Editing Large Magellanic Cloud (section)

==Distance==
[[File:Satellite Galaxies.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Location of the Large Magellanic Cloud with respect to the [[Milky Way]] and other satellite galaxies]]
The distance to the LMC has been calculated using [[standard candle]]s; [[Cepheid variable]]s are one of the most popular. These have been shown to have a relationship between their absolute luminosity and the period over which their brightness varies. However the variable of metallicity may also need to be taken as a component of this as consensus is this likely affects their [[period-luminosity relation]]s. Cepheid variables in the Milky Way typically used to calibrate the relation are more metal-rich than those found in the LMC.<ref name="mottini2006">{{Cite journal |last1=Mottini |first1=M. |last2=Romaniello |first2=M. |last3=Primas |first3=F. |author-link3=Francesca Primas |last4=Bono |first4=G. |last5=Groenewegen |first5=M. A. T. |last6=Francois |first6=P. |year=2006 |title=The Chemical Composition of Cepheids in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds |journal=Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana |volume=77 |pages=156–159 |arxiv=astro-ph/0510514 |bibcode=2006MmSAI..77..156M}}</ref>

Modern [[List of largest optical reflecting telescopes|8-meter-class optical telescopes]] have discovered [[eclipsing binaries]] throughout the [[Local Group]]. Parameters of these systems can be measured without mass or compositional assumptions. The [[light echo]]es of [[supernova 1987A]] are also geometric measurements, without any stellar models or assumptions.<ref>{{cite journal |bibcode=1988Natur.334..135S |title=The light echoes from SN1987A |last1=Suntzeff |first1=N. B. |last2=Heathcote |first2=S. |last3=Weller |first3=W. G. |last4=Caldwell |first4=N. |last5=Huchra |first5=J. P. |journal=Nature |date=1988 |volume=334 |issue=6178 |page=135 |doi=10.1038/334135a0 }}</ref>

In 2006, the Cepheid absolute luminosity was re-calibrated using Cepheid variables in the galaxy [[Messier 106]] that cover a range of metallicities.<ref name="Macrietal2006" >{{cite journal |last=Macri |first=L. M. |display-authors=etal |date=2006 |title=A New Cepheid Distance to the Maser-Host Galaxy NGC 4258 and Its Implications for the Hubble Constant |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=652 |issue=2 |pages=1133–1149 |doi=10.1086/508530 |bibcode=2006ApJ...652.1133M |arxiv = astro-ph/0608211 |s2cid=15728812 }}</ref> Using this improved calibration, they find an absolute [[distance modulus]] of <math>(m - M)_0 = 18.41</math>, or {{Convert|48|kpc|ly|abbr=in}}. This distance has been confirmed by other authors.<ref name="freedman2010"/><ref name="majaess2010" />

By cross-correlating different measurement methods, one can bound the distance; the residual errors are now less than the estimated size parameters of the LMC.

The results of a study using late-type eclipsing binaries to determine the distance more accurately was published in the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in March 2013. A distance of {{Convert|49.97|kpc|ly|abbr=in}} with an accuracy of 2.2% was obtained.<ref name="Nature" />