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Roman Space Telescope

All articles tagged with #roman space telescope

space6 days ago•20 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Aims to Unveil Dark Energy and Exoplanets

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch on Aug. 30 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to a Sun-Earth L2 orbit. It will tackle dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets while conducting wide-field infrared surveys about 100 times larger than the Hubble Deep Field, potentially capturing light from up to a billion galaxies over a five-year mission (with possible extension). The spacecraft carries two instruments—the Wide Field Instrument and a Coronagraph—whose data will be released to the public immediately, and it will be named after NASA's first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman, marking a milestone in women’s contributions to space science.

via upi.com|

#dark-energy #exoplanets #infrared-astronomy

science11 days ago•11 min saved

First Rogue Planet Mass Measured Confirms Galactic Population of Free-Floaters

Astronomers using a microlensing event observed from Earth and Gaia have measured both the mass and distance of a rogue planet about 9,800 light-years away, finding it Saturn-mass and confirming that the Milky Way hosts billions to possibly trillions of such starless worlds; the result leverages mass-distance measurements previously difficult for rogue planets and points to future surveys by the Roman Space Telescope to uncover many more.

via Space Daily|

#exoplanets #gaia #microlensing

science13 days ago•51 min saved

TESS uncovers Gaia23bra b via microlensing, a planet hidden in the data

NASA’s TESS has detected Gaia23bra b, a planet about 1.6 times Jupiter’s mass orbiting a distant orange-dwarf star roughly 40,000 light-years away, using gravitational microlensing—an effect predicted by Einstein’s general relativity. Hints of Gaia23bra b first appeared in Gaia data in 2023; microlensing provides a complementary route to exoplanet discovery alongside the transit method, and NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will use this technique to find about 1,000 microlensing planets in the Milky Way.

via Yahoo|

#exoplanets #gaia23bra-b #gravitational-microlensing

science25 days ago•14 min saved

Roman Space Telescope widens its view to map the sky 1,000× faster

With the same 2.4-meter mirror as Hubble, Roman will not go deeper but cover far more sky per exposure with a 300-megapixel infrared camera, surveying more than 50× as much sky in five years as Hubble did in 30 and up to 1,000× faster overall. This breadth enables large-scale studies of dark energy, exoplanet microlensing, and time-domain astronomy, while a sophisticated data system turns massive image catalogs into usable science—complementing, not replacing, Hubble and Webb.

via Space Daily|

#astronomical-data #dark-energy #exoplanet-microlensing

space26 days ago•8 min saved

Euclid’s Milky Way Preview Boosts Roman’s Galactic Bulge Survey

ESA’s Euclid captured a Milky Way core snapshot to precede NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s deep Galactic Bulge survey. By adding Euclid’s one-day preview to Roman’s planned observations, scientists will extend the survey window, improve Milky Way mapping, and enhance the detection of microlensing events that can reveal exoplanets and wandering stellar-mass black holes.

via NASA (.gov)|

#black-holes #euclid #microlensing

space27 days ago•11 min saved

Eight Months Early: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Heads to Orbit Ahead of Schedule

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center and is targeting an Aug. 30 no-earlier-than liftoff on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A, eight months ahead of schedule. After transport from Goddard by road and sea aboard the Pegasus barge, the observatory will enter a roughly 70-day prelaunch campaign with tests, propellant loading, and encapsulation before launch to the Sun-Earth L2 point, where it will map billions of galaxies and exoplanets and demonstrate a coronagraph to directly image faint worlds, with a mission life expected to last at least five years.

via Space Daily|

#falcon-heavy #kennedy-space-center #launch-schedule

space1 month ago•6 min saved

NASA seeks 50 digital creators to cover Roman Space Telescope launch

NASA is inviting digital creators to apply for a two‑day NASA Social at Kennedy Space Center to cover the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch on Aug. 30, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Up to 50 attendees will gain media‑style access; registration runs June 15–28 with selections announced in July. Applicants must be active social media content creators; attendees cover their own travel and accommodations and must meet REAL ID or passport entry requirements. If not selected, you can follow online or watch the livestream; NASA will update registrants if the launch date changes.

via NASA (.gov)|

#launch #nasa #nasa-social

science1 month ago•1 min saved

Roman Space Telescope Launch Moves Up to Aug. 30, Eight Months Ahead of Schedule

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now slated to launch Aug. 30, eight months ahead of the previous target. The observatory is being prepared at Goddard, shipped to Kennedy Space Center for testing, then attached to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy for a journey to the L2 point. Over a five-year mission, it will survey billions of stars and galaxies, probe thousands of exoplanets, and study black holes, at a lifetime cost of about $4.3 billion.

via TechSpot|

#falcon-heavy #lagrange-point #nasa

space1 month ago•72 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Passes Final Mirror Check, Set for Launch

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has passed its final prelaunch checks, including a last-look inspection of its 2.4-meter primary mirror and a shake test to ensure it can withstand launch. The mirror performed flawlessly, and the telescope is now being prepared for shipping to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a launch window as early as Aug. 30 or in early September.

via Space|

#launch #mirror #nasa

space1 month ago•13 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope set to chart a 100,000-planet census and rogue worlds

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, slated for launch by May 2027, will conduct a five-year survey that could detect about 100,000 transiting exoplanets and assemble the largest catalogue of rogue planets via gravitational microlensing, complemented by a coronagraphic program to image select giant planets. The mission combines a Wide Field Instrument for transit hunting with a Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey that observes six bulge fields in high cadence to capture microlensing events, enabling population-level statistics on planet occurrence—such as Earth-sized planets in habitable zones—and on rogue planets roaming the galaxy, far beyond the roughly 6,000 confirmed exoplanets today.

via Space Daily|

#exoplanets #microlensing #nasa

science1 month ago•13 min saved

Exoplanet Archive Sees 6,000 Confirmed Worlds, Aims for 100,000 Soon

NASA’s Exoplanet Archive has surpassed 6,000 confirmed exoplanets, a milestone announced by JPL and maintained by Caltech’s IPAC; the figure is a lower bound on total planets and reflects detection biases toward certain methods. Growth has been uneven, driven largely by transit surveys from Kepler and TESS, but the next leap could reach ~100,000 planets within six to seven years thanks to Gaia’s upcoming astrometry data release and the Roman Space Telescope’s microlensing survey, starting around 2026–2027. The archive is being redesigned to ingest and link tens of thousands of candidates yearly, making the 100,000 figure a checkpoint for population statistics and atmospheric studies rather than a simple headcount of worlds.

via Space Daily|

#astronomy #exoplanets #gaia

science2 months ago•8 min saved

Hubble Preps Roman for the Milky Way's Bulge Microlensing Hunt

Hubble's precursor imaging of the Milky Way's galactic bulge will calibrate and guide NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s upcoming Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, enabling precise mass measurements and a census of microlensing events, rogue planets, and compact objects, with six 72‑day seasons and high-cadence observations ahead of Roman's 2026 launch.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#exoplanets #galactic-bulge #hubble-space-telescope

space2 months ago•7 min saved

Roman Telescope to Uncover Hidden Neutron Stars Through Microlensing

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could detect isolated neutron stars—previously invisible to most telescopes—by using astrometric microlensing during its Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey, enabling direct mass measurements and advancing understanding of neutron star and black hole populations.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#astrometry #galactic-bulge-time-domain-survey #microlensing

science2 months ago•6 min saved

Roman Space Telescope Could Weigh Hidden Neutron Stars via Gravitational Microlensing

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could spot and weigh isolated neutron stars in the Milky Way using astrometric microlensing in its Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey; by tracking tiny shifts in background starlight as a neutron star passes in front, Roman can directly measure the masses of otherwise invisible remnants, helping map the neutron star–black hole population and shedding light on neutron-star birth kicks, with even a few detections significantly advancing stellar evolution models.

via NASA (.gov)|

#astrometry #gravitational-lensing #microlensing

space2 months ago•3 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Finishes Construction Ahead of Schedule and Under Budget

NASA has completed construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, finishing ahead of schedule and under budget, with a September launch aboard SpaceX Falcon Heavy to the L2 point. The telescope features a 7.9-foot primary mirror, a 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument, and a Roman Coronagraph for exoplanet imaging; it will survey the sky 1,000x faster, observe 200x more of the sky per image, and process data 2,000x faster than Hubble, potentially discovering billions of galaxies and tens of billions of stars while expanding infrared astronomy and exoplanet discovery.

via Jalopnik|

#exoplanets #l2-orbit #nasa