Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By European Space Agency
Week in images: 21-25 April 2025
Discover our week through the lens
View the full article
-
By NASA
NASA’s 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.
“Roman’s 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,” said Gail Zasowski, an associate professor at the University of Utah and co-chair of the ROTAC (Roman Observations Time Allocation Committee). “But 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’ll enable.”
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s 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.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Roman’s 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’d like to study through each of Roman’s surveys and selected committees of scientists across many organizations to evaluate the range of possibilities and formulate three compelling options for each.
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’s 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.
“These survey designs are the culmination of two years of input from more than 1,000 scientists from over 350 institutions across the globe,” said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. “We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to hear from so many of the people who’ll 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.”
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.
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.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey
Roman’s largest survey, the High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey, 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’s what the “high-latitude” 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.
The distribution and shapes of galaxies in Roman’s enormous, deep images can help us understand the nature of dark energy — a pressure that seems to be speeding up the universe’s expansion — and how invisible dark matter, which Roman will detect by its gravitational effects, influences the evolution of structure in our universe.
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.
This infographic describes the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey that will be conducted by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The survey’s main component covers over 18 square degrees — a region of sky as large as 90 full moons — 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’s five-year primary mission.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey
Roman’s High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey 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.
This survey can probe dark energy by finding and studying many thousands of a special type of exploding star called type Ia supernovae. These stellar cataclysms allow scientists to measure cosmic distances and trace the universe’s expansion.
“Staring 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 –– flares released by stars falling into black holes,” said Saurabh Jha, a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and ROTAC co-chair. “It 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’t yet thought to ask.”
This infographic describes the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey that will be conducted by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The smallest of Roman’s 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 — 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’s 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.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey
Unlike the high-latitude surveys, Roman’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will look inward to provide one of the deepest views ever of the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Roman’s crisp resolution and infrared view can allow astronomers to watch hundreds of millions of stars in search of microlensing signals — gravitational boosts of a background star’s light that occur when an intervening object passes nearly in front of it. While astronomers have mainly discovered star-hugging worlds, Roman’s 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.
The same set of observations can reveal “rogue” planets that drift through the galaxy unbound to any star, brown dwarfs (“failed stars” 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 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 “starquakes” 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.
Data from all of Roman’s surveys will be made public as soon as it is processed, with no periods of exclusive access.
“Roman’s unprecedented data will offer practically limitless opportunities for astronomers to explore all kinds of cosmic topics,” McEnery said. “We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after the mission launches.”
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzerashley.m.balzer@nasa.govLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Black Holes Dark Energy Dark Matter Earth-like Exoplanets Exoplanets Galaxies Gas Giant Exoplanets Neptune-Like Exoplanets Neutron Stars Stars Stellar-mass Black Holes Super-Earth Exoplanets Supernovae Terrestrial Exoplanets The Milky Way The Solar System The Universe Explore More
6 min read Team Preps to Study Dark Energy via Exploding Stars With NASA’s Roman
Article 1 month ago 6 min read How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Chronicle the Active Cosmos
Article 1 year ago 6 min read Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights
Article 2 years ago View the full article
-
By NASA
Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 2 min read
2025 EGU Hyperwall Schedule
EGU General Assembly, April 27 – May 2, 2025
Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #204) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.
MONDAY, APRIL 28
10:15 – 10:30 AM —— PACE —— Ivona Cetinic 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— Science Explorer (SciX): Accelerating the Discovery of NASA Science —— Mike Kurtz 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Juno’s Extended Vision in its Extended Mission —— Glenn Orton 6:05 – 6:20 PM —— Getting the Big Picture with Global Precipitation —— George Huffman 6:20 – 6:35 PM —— Exploring Europa with Europa Clipper —— Jonathan Lunine TUESDAY, APRIL 29
10:15 – 10:30 AM —— Science Explorer (SciX): Accelerating the Discovery of NASA Science —— Jennifer Lynn Bartlett 10:30 – 10:45 AM —— From ESTO to PACE, A CubeSat’s Journey to Space —— Brent McBride 12:30 – 2:00 PM —— Ask Me Anything with NASA Scientists —— Informal Office Hours 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— Exoplanets (Virtual) —— Jonathan H. Jiang 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Scattering of Realistic Hydrometeors for Precipitation Remote Sensing ——Kwo-Sen Kuo 6:05 – 6:20 PM —— Space Weather Center of Excellence CLEAR: All-CLEAR SEP Forecast —— Lulu Zhao WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
10:15 – 10:30 AM —— SPEXone on PACE: First year in Orbit —— Otto Hasekamp 12:30 – 2:00 PM —— Ask Me Anything with NASA Scientists —— Informal Office Hours 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— Science Explorer (SciX): Accelerating the Discovery of NASA Science —— Jennifer Lynn Bartlett 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Scattering of Realistic Hydrometeors for Precipitation Remote Sensing ——Kwo-Sen Kuo 6:05 – 6:20 PM —— Ship Tracks Tell the Story of Climate Forcing by Aerosols through Clouds —Tianle Yuan 6:20 – 6:35 PM —— The Excitement of Mars Exploration —— Jonathan Lunine 6:35 – 6:50 PM —— Using NASA Earth Observations for Disaster Response —— Kristen Okorn THURSDAY, MAY 1
10:15 – 10:30 AM —— Getting the Big Picture with Global Precipitation —— George Huffman 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— PACE —— Morgaine McKibben 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Using AI to Model Global Clouds Better Than Current GCRMs —— Tianle Yuan 6:05 – 6:20 PM —— Science Explorer (SciX): Accelerating the Discovery of NASA Science —— Mike Kurtz Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 Related Terms
Earth Science View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
Video: 00:06:15 English
From 7 to 11 April, ESA's Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, ESRIN, hosted the 2025 edition of ESA School Days, welcoming almost 1400 young students.
The event kicked off with primary school students (4th and 5th grades) visiting during the first three days, followed by secondary school students on the final two days.
Throughout the week, 35 schools from across Italy engaged in presentations and laboratories, delving into the diverse space activities conducted at ESA’s establishment.
This initiative, which included contributions from ESERO Italia and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), aims to inspire and engage the next generation of STEM students by sharing knowledge about space and the European Space Agency.
Italian
Dal 7 all'11 aprile, ESRIN, il Centro per l'Osservazione della Terra dell'ESA a Frascati, ha ospitato l'edizione 2025 degli ESA School Days, accogliendo quasi1 400 giovani studenti. L'evento ha preso il via con la visita degli studenti delle scuole primarie (classi quarte e quinte) durante i primi tre giorni, seguiti dagli studenti delle scuole secondarie nei due giorni finali.
Per tutta la settimana, 35 scuole da tutta Italia si sono cimentate in presentazioni e laboratori, approfondendo la loro conoscenza delle diverse attività spaziali condotte presso lo stabilimento dell'ESA.
L'iniziativa, che ha visto il contributo di ESERO Italia e dell'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), mira a ispirare e coinvolgere la prossima generazione di studenti STEM condividendo le conoscenze sullo spazio e sull'Agenzia Spaziale Europea.
View the full article
-
By Space Force
U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman spoke to hundreds of cadets and national leaders during the 2025 National Conclave for Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings, emphasizing the evolving role of the Space Force in the future fight.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.