Measuring the distance to far away objects in space can be tricky. We don't even know the precise distance to even our closest neighbors in the universe—the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. But, we're starting to get to the tools to measure it. One type of tool is a Cepheid Variable—a type of star that varies its luminosity in a well-defined pattern. However, we don't know much about their physical properties, making utilizing them as distance markers harder.
