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Exploring Cosmology, Exoplanets, and Infrared Astrophysics at 100x the scale of Hubble

Delving into the mysteries of dark energy

The Roman Space Telescope will delve into the mystery of dark energy by studying how the distribution of galaxies and dark matter has changed throughout cosmic history.

Discovering thousands of exoplanets

The Roman Space Telescope will complete the statistical census of planetary systems in the galaxy by using microlensing, the universe’s own magnifying glass, to find thousands of exoplanets.

Leading future exoplanet missions

The Roman Space Telescope will use a technique called coronagraphy to block the glaring light of exoplanet host stars to directly see planets and planet-forming disks. The Coronagraph Instrument is an advanced technology demonstrator for future exoplanet missions.

The Roman Project welcomes self-nominations to serve on the Roman Science User Panel (RSUP) for a term of 2–3 years. To self-nominate, please fill out this form by August 22, 8 pm EDT.

The ROTAC report on the Roman Core Community and General Astrophysics Surveys is available, including slides and video of a presentation of the report. More information can be found at the Roman Community Forum page.

Join the Roman Science Collaboration!

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NASA Roman Core Survey Will Trace Cosmic Expansion Over Time

Roman’s High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey will find exploding stars that act as signposts to measure the universe’s expansion and the influence of dark energy. For thousands of years, humanity viewed the skies as unchanging, except for a few “wandering stars” (that we now know are planets). As we improved our ability to perceive the cosmos with light-gathering telescopes and electronic detectors, we realized that the universe is full of things that change in brightness, whether it be an exploding star or a matter-gulping black hole. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to deliver an avalanche of such transients, including thousands of “standard candle” supernovae that allow us to measure the expansion history of the universe.

The Roman Space Telescope and IPAC

Caltech/IPAC hosts the Roman Science Support Center (SSC). The responsibilities of the SSC include Coronagraph Instrument operations, science level processing of spectroscopic and microlensing WFI data, General Astrophysics proposal and grants management, and community engagement. The SSC also curates up to date telescope and instrument parameters and Roman science simulations and tools for the scientific community.