Empirically, Type Ia supernovae are the most useful, precise, and mature
tools for determining astronomical distances. Acting as calibrated
candles they revealed the presence of dark energy and are being used to
measure its properties. However, the nature of the SN Ia explosion, and
the progenitors involved, have remained elusive, even after seven
decades of research. But now new large surveys are bringing about a
paradigm shift --- we can finally compare samples of hundreds of
supernovae to isolate critical variables. As a result of this, and
Howell, D. A., 2011, Nature Communications, 2, 350
