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.
Members of the Roman Space Telescope team pose with the telescope’s primary mirror at L3 Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York. The telescope just passed a key milestone review, permitting the team to move on to finalizing the telescope design.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a next-generation space telescope that will survey the infrared universe from beyond the orbit of the Moon. The spacecraft's giant camera, the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), will be fundamental to this exploration. The WFI features the same angular resolution as Hubble but with 100 times the field of view. Data it gathers will enable scientists to discover new and uniquely detailed information about planetary systems around other stars. The WFI will also map how matter is structured and distributed throughout the cosmos, which should ultimately allow scientists to discover the fate of the universe. Watch this video to see a simplified version of how it works.
This infographic showcases the difference in data volume between the Nancy Grace Roman, Webb and Hubble space telescopes. Each day, Roman will send over 500 times more data back to Earth than Hubble.
This infographic showcases the difference in data volume between the Nancy Grace Roman and Hubble space telescopes. Each day, Roman will send over 500 times more data back to Earth than Hubble.
This simulated image illustrates the wide range of science enabled by Roman's extremely wide field of view and exquisite resolution. The purple squares, which all contain background imagery simulated using data from Hubble’s Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Survey (CANDELS) program, outline the area Roman can capture in a single observation. An orange square shows the field of view of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 for comparison. While the CANDELS program took Hubble nearly 21 days to survey in near-infrared light, Roman’s large field of view and higher efficiency would allow it to survey the same area in less than half an hour. Top left: This view illustrates a region of the large nearby spiral galaxy M83. Top right: A hypothetical distant dwarf galaxy appears in this magnified view, demonstrating Roman’s ability to detect small, faint galaxies at large distances. Bottom left: This magnified view illustrates how Roman will be able to resolve bright stars even in the dense cores of globular star clusters. Bottom right: A zoom of the CANDELS-based background shows the density of high-redshift galaxies Roman will detect.
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Credit: Benjamin Williams, David Weinberg, Anil Seth, Eric Bell, Dave Sand, Dominic Benford, and the WINGS Science Investigation Team
This simulated image illustrates the wide range of science enabled by Roman's extremely wide field of view and exquisite resolution. The purple squares, which all contain background imagery simulated using data from Hubble’s Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Survey (CANDELS) program, outline the area Roman can capture in a single observation. An orange square shows the field of view of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 for comparison. While the CANDELS program took Hubble nearly 21 days to survey in near-infrared light, Roman’s large field of view and higher efficiency would allow it to survey the same area in less than half an hour. Top left: This view illustrates a region of the large nearby spiral galaxy M83. Top right: A hypothetical distant dwarf galaxy appears in this magnified view, demonstrating Roman’s ability to detect small, faint galaxies at large distances. Bottom left: This magnified view illustrates how Roman will be able to resolve bright stars even in the dense cores of globular star clusters. Bottom right: A zoom of the CANDELS-based background shows the density of high-redshift galaxies Roman will detect.
Credit: Benjamin Williams, David Weinberg, Anil Seth, Eric Bell, Dave Sand, Dominic Benford, and the WINGS Science Investigation Team
This simulated image illustrates the wide range of science enabled by Roman's extremely wide field of view and exquisite resolution. The purple squares, which all contain background imagery simulated using data from Hubble’s Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Survey (CANDELS) program, outline the area Roman can capture in a single observation. An orange square shows the field of view of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 for comparison. While the CANDELS program took Hubble nearly 21 days to survey in near-infrared light, Roman’s large field of view and higher efficiency would allow it to survey the same area in less than half an hour. Top left: This view illustrates a region of the large nearby spiral galaxy M83. Top right: A hypothetical distant dwarf galaxy appears in this magnified view, demonstrating Roman’s ability to detect small, faint galaxies at large distances. Bottom left: This magnified view illustrates how Roman will be able to resolve bright stars even in the dense cores of globular star clusters. Bottom right: A zoom of the CANDELS-based background shows the density of high-redshift galaxies Roman will detect.
Credit: Benjamin Williams, David Weinberg, Anil Seth, Eric Bell, Dave Sand, Dominic Benford, and the WINGS Science Investigation Team
This simulated image illustrates the wide range of science enabled by Roman's extremely wide field of view and exquisite resolution. The purple squares, which all contain background imagery simulated using data from Hubble’s Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Survey (CANDELS) program, outline the area Roman can capture in a single observation. An orange square shows the field of view of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 for comparison. While the CANDELS program took Hubble nearly 21 days to survey in near-infrared light, Roman’s large field of view and higher efficiency would allow it to survey the same area in less than half an hour. Top left: This view illustrates a region of the large nearby spiral galaxy M83. Top right: A hypothetical distant dwarf galaxy appears in this magnified view, demonstrating Roman’s ability to detect small, faint galaxies at large distances. Bottom left: This magnified view illustrates how Roman will be able to resolve bright stars even in the dense cores of globular star clusters. Bottom right: A zoom of the CANDELS-based background shows the density of high-redshift galaxies Roman will detect.
Credit: Benjamin Williams, David Weinberg, Anil Seth, Eric Bell, Dave Sand, Dominic Benford, and the WINGS Science Investigation Team