Supernova 1994D , visible as the bright spot on the lower left, occurred in the outskirts of disk galaxy NGC 4526 . Supernova 1994D was not of interest for how different it was, but rather for how similar it was to other supernovae . In fact, the light emitted during the weeks after its explosion caused it to be given the familiar designation of a Type Ia supernova . If all Type 1a supernovae have the same intrinsic brightness, then the dimmer a supernova appears, the farther away it must be. The large number and great distances to supernovae measured in 1998 have been interpreted as indicating that we live in a previously unexpected universe .
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