Ohio State University researchers have found a way to measure distances to objects three times farther away in outer space than previously possible, by extending a common measurement technique. They discovered that a rare type of giant star, often overlooked by astronomers, called Ultra Long Period (ULP) Cepheids, could make excellent "standard candles" for distances up to 300 million light years away. Classical cepheids are bright, but beyond 100 million light years from Earth, they lose their effectiveness as their signals gets lost among other bright stars.