Hubble distancing: Focusing on distance measurements in cosmology

Understand

The Hubble-Lemaitre tension is currently one of the most important questions in cosmology.

• Most of the focus so far has been on reconciling the Hubble constant value inferred from detailed cosmic microwave background measurement with that from the local distance ladder.
• This emphasis on one number -- namely $H_0$ -- misses the fact that the tension fundamentally arises from disagreements of distance measurements.
• To be successful, a proposed cosmological model must accurately fit these distances rather than simply infer a given value of $H_0$.