The Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror reflects an American flag. Its surface is figured to a level hundreds of times finer than a typical household mirror.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror, which will collect and focus light from cosmic objects near and far, has been completed. Using this mirror, Roman will capture stunning space vistas with a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble images.
Crane operators lower the support equipment to move the Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror. Using this mirror, Roman will provide a new view into the universe, helping scientists solve cosmic mysteries related to dark matter, dark energy, and planets around other stars.
Rogue planets are free-floating planets that do not orbit a star and instead travel through space. Scientists think they are outcasts from developing planetary systems and may be very numerous throught the galaxy. This illustration shows a rogue planet traveling through space.
This image of the Eagle Nebula showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. In the center is Hubble's view of the Pillars of Creation - superimposed on a ground-based image. Roman’s Wide Field Instrument field of view is highlighted. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing.
The wide field image for the Eagle nebula is a combination between an image taken by NSF’s 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (Credit: T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A.Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)) and an image by amateur astronomer Liam Murphy.
This image of the Eagle Nebula showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. In the center is Hubble's view of the Pillars of Creation - superimposed on a ground-based image. Roman’s Wide Field Instrument field of view is highlighted. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing. This version has labels.
The wide field image for the Eagle nebula is a combination between an image taken by NSF’s 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (Credit: T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A.Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)) and an image by amateur astronomer Liam Murphy.
This video of the Eagle Nebula showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It begins with a Hubble image of the famous Pillars of Creation superimposed on a ground-based image. The view then zooms out to show the full field of view of Roman’s Wide Field Instrument. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing.
The wide field image for the Eagle nebula is a combination between an image taken by NSF’s 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (Credit: T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A.Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)) and an image by amateur astronomer Liam Murphy.
This video of the Eagle Nebula showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It begins with a Hubble image of the famous Pillars of Creation superimposed on a ground-based image. The view then zooms out to show the full field of view of Roman’s Wide Field Instrument. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing. This version has labels.
The wide field image for the Eagle nebula is a combination between an image taken by NSF’s 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (Credit: T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A.Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)) and an image by amateur astronomer Liam Murphy.
This simulated image of a portion of the Andromeda galaxy highlights the high resolution, large field of view, and unique footprint of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
NASA,STScI, and B.F. Williams (University of Washington)
Details of a simulated image of the Andromeda galaxy highlight the high resolution of Roman imagery. Unlike a typical wide field camera, which can cover a large area of sky but cannot reveal fine details, Roman will provide both a large field of view and high resolution. The details shown here each cover about 0.0013 square degrees of sky, the equivalent to a single infrared image from Hubble’s WFC3 camera. The pixel scale is 0.11 arcseconds/pixel.
NASA,STScI, and B. F. Williams (University of Washington)
Details of a simulated image of the Andromeda galaxy highlight the high resolution of Roman imagery. Unlike a typical wide field camera, which can cover a large area of sky but cannot reveal fine details, Roman will provide both a large field of view and high resolution. The details shown here each cover about 0.0013 square degrees of sky, the equivalent to a single infrared image from Hubble’s WFC3 camera. The pixel scale is 0.11 arcseconds/pixel. This version has additional labels.
NASA,STScI, and B. F. Williams (University of Washington)
A composite figure of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) highlights the extremely large field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Background image: Digitized Sky Survey and R. Gendler Moon image:NASA, GSFC, and Arizona State University WFIRST simulation:NASA,STScI, and B. F. Williams (University of Washington)
A composite figure of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) highlights the extremely large field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This version has additional labels.
Background image: Digitized Sky Survey and R. Gendler Moon image:NASA, GSFC, and Arizona State University WFIRST simulation:NASA,STScI, and B. F. Williams (University of Washington)
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, will capture the equivalent of 100 high-resolution Hubble images in a single shot, imaging large areas of the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble. In several months, the Roman Space Telescope could survey as much of the sky in near-infrared light—in just as much detail—as Hubble has over its entire three decades.
Although Roman has not yet opened its wide, keen eyes on the universe, astronomers are already running simulations to demonstrate what it will be able to see and plan their observations.
This simulated image of a portion of our neighboring galaxy Andromeda (M31) provides a preview of the vast expanse and fine detail that can be covered with just a single pointing of the Roman Space Telescope. Using information gleaned from hundreds of Hubble observations, the simulated image covers a swath roughly 34,000 light-years across, showcasing the red and infrared light of more than 50 million individual stars detectable with Roman.
Watch the video to learn more about the Roman Space Telescope's simulated image.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music: "Flight Impressions" from Universal Production Music
This image of galaxy cluster Abell 426 showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It highlights Hubble's view of the galaxy NGC 1275 superimposed on a ground-based image. Roman’s Wide Field Instrument field of view is highlighted. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing.
The wide field image for Abell 426 is composed of a combination of theDigitized Sky Survey and an image by Petri Kehusmaa.
This image of galaxy cluster Abell 426 showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It highlights Hubble's view of the galaxy NGC 1275 superimposed on a ground-based image. Roman’s Wide Field Instrument field of view is highlighted. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing. This version has labels.
The wide field image for Abell 426 is composed of a combination of theDigitized Sky Survey and an image by Petri Kehusmaa.
This video of galaxy cluster Abell 426 showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It begins with a Hubble image of the galaxy NGC 1275 superimposed on a ground-based image. The view then zooms out to show the full field of view of Roman’s Wide Field Instrument. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing.
The wide field image for Abell 426 is composed of a combination of theDigitized Sky Survey and an image by Petri Kehusmaa.
This video of galaxy cluster Abell 426 showcases the superb resolution and wide field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It begins with a Hubble image of the galaxy NGC 1275 superimposed on a ground-based image. The view then zooms out to show the full field of view of Roman’s Wide Field Instrument. Roman’s images will have the resolution of Hubble while covering an area about 100 times larger in a single pointing. This version has labels.
The wide field image for Abell 426 is composed of a combination of theDigitized Sky Survey and an image by Petri Kehusmaa.
This image showcases one panel of an exhibit on UGC 2885 (Rubin's Galaxy), highlighting the unique strengths of Hubble, Webb, and Roman in observing galaxies.
Hubble's View of Rubin's Galaxy: NASA,ESA, and B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)
This image showcases UGC 2885 (Rubin's Galaxy), with Hubble's view in inset and the Roman field of view. Roman will be able to capture the entire halo of galaxies like Rubin in a single pointing, which is about 100 times larger than a Hubble pointing.
Image being updated by STScI, will be available shortly!
Hubble's View of Rubin's Galaxy: NASA,ESA, and B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)