{"id":205406,"date":"2025-04-25T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=854321"},"modified":"2025-04-25T02:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T16:01:00","slug":"nasas-roman-mission-shares-detailed-plans-to-scour-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=205406","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Roman Mission Shares Detailed Plans to Scour Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team shared Thursday the designs for the three core surveys the mission will conduct after launch. These observation programs are designed to investigate some of the most profound mysteries in astrophysics while enabling expansive cosmic exploration that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoman\u2019s setting out to do wide, deep surveys of the universe in a way that will help us answer questions about how dark energy and dark matter govern cosmic evolution, and the demographics of worlds beyond our solar system,\u201d said Gail Zasowski, an associate professor at the University of Utah and co-chair of the ROTAC (Roman Observations Time Allocation Committee). \u201cBut the overarching goal is that the surveys have broad appeal and numerous science applications. They were designed by and for the astronomical community to maximize the science they\u2019ll enable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>
\n
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope\u2019s three main observing programs, highlighted in this infographic, can enable astronomers to view the universe as never before, revealing billions of cosmic objects strewn across enormous swaths of space-time.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Roman\u2019s crisp, panoramic view of space and fast survey speeds provide the opportunity for astronomers to study the universe as never before. The Roman team asked the science community to detail the topics they\u2019d like to study through each of Roman\u2019s surveys and selected committees of scientists across many organizations to evaluate the range of possibilities and formulate three compelling options for each.<\/p>\n

In April, the Roman team received the recommendations and has now determined the survey designs. These observations account for no more than 75 percent of Roman\u2019s surveys during its five-year primary mission, with the remainder allocated to additional observations that will be proposed and developed by the science community in later opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese survey designs are the culmination of two years of input from more than 1,000 scientists from over 350 institutions across the globe,\u201d said Julie McEnery, Roman\u2019s senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that we\u2019ve been able to hear from so many of the people who\u2019ll use the data after launch to investigate everything from objects in our outer solar system, planets across our galaxy, dark matter and dark energy, to exploding stars, growing black holes, galaxies by the billions, and so much more.”<\/p>\n

With all major hardware now delivered, Roman has entered its final phase of preparation for launch, undergoing integration and key environmental testing at NASA Goddard. Roman is targeted to launch by May 2027, with the team working toward a potential launch window that opens in October 2026.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"An<\/a><\/figure>
\n
This infographic describes the High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey that will be conducted by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This observation program has three components, covering more than 5,000 square degrees (about 12 percent of the sky) altogether in just under a year and a half. The main part covers about 2,500 square degrees, doing both spectroscopy (splitting light into individual colors to study patterns that reveal detailed information) and imaging in multiple filters (which allow astronomers to select specific wavelengths of light) to provide the rich dataset needed for precise studies of our universe. A wider component spans more than twice the area using a single filter, specifically covering a large area that can be viewed by ground-based telescopes located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The final component focuses on a smaller region to provide a deeper view that will help astronomers study faint, distant galaxies.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roman\u2019s largest survey, the High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey<\/a>, combines the powers of imaging and spectroscopy to unveil more than a billion galaxies strewn across a wide swath of cosmic time. Roman can look far from the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy (that\u2019s what the \u201chigh-latitude\u201d part of the survey name means), looking up and out of the galaxy rather than through it to get the clearest view of the distant cosmos.<\/p>\n

The distribution and shapes of galaxies in Roman\u2019s enormous, deep images can help us understand the nature of dark energy<\/a> \u2014 a pressure that seems to be speeding up the universe\u2019s expansion \u2014 and how invisible dark matter<\/a>, which Roman will detect by its gravitational effects, influences the evolution of structure in our universe.<\/p>\n

For the last two years, researchers have been discussing ways to expand the range of scientific topics that can be studied using the same dataset. That includes studying galaxy evolution, star formation, cosmic voids, the matter between galaxies, and much more.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>
\n
This infographic describes the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey that will be conducted by NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The survey\u2019s main component covers over 18 square degrees \u2014 a region of sky as large as 90 full moons \u2014 and sees supernovae that occurred up to about 8 billion years ago. Smaller areas within the survey can pierce even farther, potentially back to when the universe was around a billion years old. The survey is split between the northern and southern hemispheres, located in regions of the sky that will be continuously visible to Roman. The bulk of the survey consists of 30-hour observations every five days for two years in the middle of Roman\u2019s five-year primary mission.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roman\u2019s High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey<\/a> can probe our dynamic universe by observing the same region of the cosmos repeatedly. Stitching these observations together to create movies can allow scientists to study how celestial objects and phenomena change over time periods of days to years.<\/p>\n

This survey can probe dark energy by finding and studying many thousands of a special type of exploding star called type Ia supernovae<\/a>. These stellar cataclysms allow scientists to measure cosmic distances and trace the universe\u2019s expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaring at a large volume of the sky for so long will also reveal black holes being born as neutron stars merge, and tidal disruption events \u2013\u2013 flares released by stars falling into black holes,\u201d said Saurabh Jha, a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and ROTAC co-chair. \u201cIt will also allow astronomers to explore variable objects, like active galaxies and binary systems. And it enables more open-ended cosmic exploration than most other space telescopes can do, offering a chance to answer questions we haven\u2019t yet thought to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>
\n
This infographic describes the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey that will be conducted by NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The smallest of Roman\u2019s core surveys, this observation program consists of repeat visits to six fields covering 1.7 square degrees total. One field pierces the very center of the galaxy, and the others are nearby \u2014 all in a region of the sky that will be visible to Roman for two 72-day stretches each spring and fall. The survey mainly consists of six seasons (three early on, and three toward the end of Roman\u2019s primary mission), during which Roman views each field every 12 minutes. Roman also views the six fields with less intensity at other times throughout the mission, allowing astronomers to detect microlensing events that can last for years, signaling the presence of isolated, stellar-mass black holes.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey<\/h3>\n

Unlike the high-latitude surveys, Roman\u2019s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey<\/a> will look inward to provide one of the deepest views ever of the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Roman\u2019s crisp resolution and infrared view can allow astronomers to watch hundreds of millions of stars in search of microlensing signals<\/a> \u2014 gravitational boosts of a background star\u2019s light that occur when an intervening object passes nearly in front of it. While astronomers have mainly discovered star-hugging worlds, Roman\u2019s microlensing observations can find planets in the habitable zone of their star and farther out, including analogs of every planet in our solar system except Mercury.<\/p>\n

The same set of observations can reveal \u201crogue\u201d planets<\/a> that drift through the galaxy unbound to any star, brown dwarfs<\/a> (\u201cfailed stars\u201d too lightweight to power themselves by fusion the way stars do), and stellar corpses like neutron stars and white dwarfs. And scientists could discover 100,000 new worlds<\/a> by seeing stars periodically get dimmer as an orbiting planet passes in front of them, events called transits. Scientists can also study the stars themselves, detecting \u201cstarquakes\u201d on a million giant stars, the result of sound waves reverberating through their interiors that can reveal information about their structures, ages, and other properties.<\/p>\n

Data from all of Roman\u2019s surveys will be made public as soon as it is processed, with no periods of exclusive access.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoman\u2019s unprecedented data will offer practically limitless opportunities for astronomers to explore all kinds of cosmic topics,\u201d McEnery said. \u201cWe stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after the mission launches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Download high-resolution video and images from NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ashley Balzer<\/strong>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media contact:<\/strong>
Claire Andreoli<\/strong>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong>
301-286-1940<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Share<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n