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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s next major space observatory and is designed to investigate some of the most important questions concerning the Universe, dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets.

About the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) is a next-generation infrared space telescope named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first Chief Astronomer and a key figure in developing the Hubble Space Telescope programme.

Roman will operate from the second Sun–Earth Lagrange point (L2), about 1.5 million km from Earth in the direction opposite the Sun. The L2 location provides a relatively stable environment and allows the telescope to maintain a suitable observing geometry for deep-space observations.

Its major scientific focus is on three interconnected areas: dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets. It will also provide exceptionally deep views of the Milky Way, particularly its crowded central region.

Major Scientific Objectives

Roman will conduct a wide range of observations. It will:

• Study dark energy and help understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating.
• Investigate the distribution and effects of dark matter through observations of galaxies and gravitational lensing.
• Search for exoplanets, particularly through gravitational microlensing.
• Survey hundreds of millions of stars for temporary changes in brightness that can reveal planets and other objects.
• Search for isolated black holes and other compact objects.
• Study distant galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe.
• Examine small icy bodies in the outer Solar System.

Key Instruments

1. Wide Field Instrument (WFI): The WFI is a 300-megapixel infrared camera and will be Roman’s principal survey instrument. Its field of view is about 100 times larger than Hubble’s infrared instrument, allowing it to survey much larger areas of the sky in comparatively less observing time.

Over its mission, it is expected to measure light from around one billion galaxies. Its microlensing survey of the inner Milky Way is expected to discover approximately 2,600 exoplanets.

2. Coronagraph Instrument (CGI): The Coronagraph Instrument is primarily a technology demonstration for high-contrast astronomical imaging. It will test techniques for directly imaging and obtaining spectra of individual nearby exoplanets, helping develop technologies for future missions capable of characterising potentially habitable worlds.

What is Special about L2?

The Lagrange points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, combine with the orbital motion of a spacecraft to create relatively stable locations.

There arefive Sun–Earth Lagrange points (L1–L5). Roman will be positioned at L2, enabling it to remain in a stable configuration relative to Earth and the Sun while observing the distant Universe.

What is the News ?

NASA is preparing to use its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to take humanity's deepest-ever look into the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Facts About:

• The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will offer one of the deepest views into the heart of the Milky Way galaxy.

Its mission includes monitoring hundreds of millions of stars to detect various celestial objects like planets, distant stars, icy objects in our solar system, black holes, and more.

• It will likely discover the farthest-known exoplanet, opening up new possibilities in the search for other worlds.
• Time-domain astronomy is a significant focus, studying how the universe changes over time, and Roman contributes to this field.
• The Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will concentrate on the Milky Way, using infrared vision to see through dust clouds in the galaxy's central region.

The survey will involve taking images every 15 minutes around the clock for about two months, repeated six times over Roman's five-year primary mission.

• Astronomers anticipate finding over a thousand planets, including some within their host stars' habitable zones.
• It can detect "rogue" worlds that don't orbit stars, providing insights into planetary system formation.
• The mission will also identify brown dwarfs and help explore the boundary between planet and star formation.
• It is expected to spot neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, Kuiper belt objects, and conduct stellar seismology studies on a million giant stars.

The telescope's broad view of space allows for a new view of an ever-changing universe.

• The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center with participation from several other institutions and partners.