Question

When making maps of the large-scale universe, astronomers estimate distances to the vast majority of galaxies by using:

Answer 1

Answer:

The comoving distance and the proper distance scale

Explanation:

The comoving distance scale removes the effects of the expansion of the universe, which leaves us with a distance that does not change in time due to the expansion of space (since space is constantly expanding). The comoving distance and proper distance are defined to be equal at the present time; therefore, the ratio of proper distance to comoving distance now is 1. The scale factor is sometimes not equal to 1. The distance between masses in the universe may change due to other, local factors like the motion of a galaxy within a cluster.  Finally, we note that the expansion of the Universe results in the proper distance changing, but the comoving distance is unchanged by an expanding universe.