Library of Roman Visuals

Learn more about the Roman Space Telescope spacecraft with this short tour of the main systems.

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Still frame of spacecraft animation

Stylized still frame of spacecraft animation

Stylized still frame of spacecraft animation

Stylized still frame of spacecraft animation and name

Still frame of spacecraft animation

"Beauty pass" animation of the Roman Space Telescope spacecraft

"Beauty pass" animation of the Roman Space Telescope spacecraft

Welcome to NASA's upcoming infrared survey mission, taking a wider view of the cosmos.

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.

4k animation of the telescope and Wide Field Instrument, showing a simplified exploded view of how it works.

Animated GIF of the Roman Wide Field Instrument.

This Roman simulated image is 1/140th a Roman field of view. There are so many stars at the center of our galaxy that in other telescopes’ views they may blur together, but Roman will see them with high clarity, distinguishing stars in the center bulge from those in the surrounding disk. Tracking the precise positions and colors of individual stars over time will provide insight on the star-formation processes in the Milky Way bulge, bar, and disk.

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.

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.

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.

A composite figure of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) highlights the extremely large field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

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.

A composite figure of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) highlights the extremely large field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.  Inside the Roman footprint is simulated Roman data, which you can see more clearly in the three pull-outs - each one being a Hubble field-of-view.

In addition to the resolved stars in Andromeda, the insets reveal:

The top inset:  star cluster and background galaxy

Middle inset: dust cloud

Bottom inset: young star cluster

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.

The Carina Nebula is an example of a star-forming region with many stages of the stellar lifecycle captured by Hubble. There is no guarantee that Roman will be studying this same area.

The Carina Nebula is an example of a star-forming region with many stages of the stellar lifecycle captured by Hubble. There is no guarantee that Roman will be studying this same area.

This is the annotated version of the image.

The Carina Nebula is an example of a star-forming region with many stages of the stellar lifecycle captured by Hubble. There is no guarantee that Roman will be studying this same area.

This is the full annotated version of the image, including title and Hubble instruments used in the pull-out Hubble images.

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 the Digitized 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 the Digitized 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 the Digitized 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 the Digitized Sky Survey and an image by Petri Kehusmaa.

Roman will find a diversity of galaxies at different stages of their evolution—galaxies in small groups and in large clusters, merging galaxies, and newborn galaxies.  

By capturing both volume and detail, Roman will greatly advance knowledge about galaxies and their variety of forms, and also their evolution over the history of the universe.

This image showcases separate Hubble observations of select galaxies in the Coma Cluster, within a single Roman field of view.

This version has basic annotations.

Roman will find a diversity of galaxies at different stages of their evolution—galaxies in small groups and in large clusters, merging galaxies, and newborn galaxies.  

By capturing both volume and detail, Roman will greatly advance knowledge about galaxies and their variety of forms, and also their evolution over the history of the universe.

This image showcases separate Hubble observations of select galaxies in the Coma Cluster, within a single Roman field of view.

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.

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.

In this version, an estimate of the extent of the halo of Rubin's Galaxy is shown.

This composite image illustrates the possibility of a Roman Space Telescope “ultra deep field” observation. In a deep field, astronomers collect light from a patch of sky for an extended period of time to reveal the faintest and most distant objects. This view centers on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (outlined in blue), which represents the deepest portrait of the universe ever achieved by humankind, at visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths. Two insets reveal stunning details of the galaxies within the field.

Beyond the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, additional observations obtained over the past two decades have filled in the surrounding space. These wider Hubble observations reveal over 265,000 galaxies, but are much shallower than the Hubble Ultra Deep field in terms of the most distant galaxies observed.

These Hubble images are overlaid on an even wider view using ground-based data from the Digitized Sky Survey. An orange outline shows the field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman’s 18 detectors will be able to observe an area of sky at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field at one time, with the same crisp sharpness as Hubble.

This composite annotated image illustrates the possibility of a Roman Space Telescope “ultra deep field” observation. In a deep field, astronomers collect light from a patch of sky for an extended period of time to reveal the faintest and most distant objects. This view centers on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (outlined in blue), which represents the deepest portrait of the universe ever achieved by humankind, at visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths. Two insets reveal stunning details of the galaxies within the field.

Beyond the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, additional observations obtained over the past two decades have filled in the surrounding space. These wider Hubble observations reveal over 265,000 galaxies, but are much shallower than the Hubble Ultra Deep field in terms of the most distant galaxies observed.

These Hubble images are overlaid on an even wider view using ground-based data from the Digitized Sky Survey. An orange outline shows the field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman’s 18 detectors will be able to observe an area of sky at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field at one time, with the same crisp sharpness as Hubble.

This zoom-out animation begins with a view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (outlined in blue), which represents the deepest portrait of the universe ever achieved by humankind, at visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths. The view then expands to show a wider Hubble survey of that area of sky (white outline), which captured about 265,000 galaxies in a large mosaic. Expanding further, we see the Hubble data overlaid on a ground-based view using data from the Digitized Sky Survey.

An orange outline shows the field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman’s 18 detectors will be able to observe an area of sky at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field at one time, with the same crisp sharpness as Hubble.

This zoom-out annotated animation begins with a view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (outlined in blue), which represents the deepest portrait of the universe ever achieved by humankind, at visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths. The view then expands to show a wider Hubble survey of that area of sky (white outline), which captured about 265,000 galaxies in a large mosaic. Expanding further, we see the Hubble data overlaid on a ground-based view using data from the Digitized Sky Survey.

An orange outline shows the field of view of NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman’s 18 detectors will be able to observe an area of sky at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Ultra Deep Field at one time, with the same crisp sharpness as Hubble.

(2011) Astronomers have pushed NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to its limits by finding what they believe is the most distant object ever seen in the universe. Its light traveled 13.2 billion years to reach Hubble, roughly 150 million years longer than the previous record holder. The age of the universe is 13.7 billion years.

The SDSS map of the Universe. Each dot is a galaxy; the color bar shows the local density.

Visualization of simulated Roman emission-line galaxy distribution data used to measure BAO and RSD. The wedge shown covers an RA sweep of 45° with a DEC thickness of 1°, and includes more than 215,000 galaxies.

Visualization of simulated Roman emission-line galaxy distribution data used to measure BAO and RSD. The wedge shown covers an RA sweep of 45° with a DEC thickness of 1°, and includes more than 215,000 galaxies of a much larger 5-million galaxy simulated galaxy catalog.

This version developed for experts in cosmology.

Visualization of simulated Roman emission-line galaxy distribution data used to measure BAO and RSD. The wedge shown covers an RA sweep of 45° with a DEC thickness of 1°, and includes more than 215,000 galaxies of a much larger 5-million galaxy simulated galaxy catalog.

This animation explains how BAOs arose in the early universe and how astronomers can study the faint imprint they made on galaxy distribution to probe dark energy’s effects over time. In the beginning, the cosmos was filled with a hot, dense fluid called plasma. Tiny variations in density excited sound waves that rippled through the fluid. When the universe was about 400,000 years old, the waves froze where they were. Slightly more galaxies formed along the ripples. These frozen ripples stretched as the universe expanded, increasing the distance between galaxies. Astronomers can study this preferred distance between galaxies in different cosmic ages to understand the expansion history of the universe.

Shorter, unnarrated version of the animation above.

The small peak near the center of the graph in this video shows how BAOs subtly influenced galaxy distribution. Today, there is a slight bump in the probability of finding galaxies about 500 million light-years away from each other. This distance shrinks as we look farther out into space, to earlier cosmic times.

Waves of sound – BAOs – ripple through the primordial cosmic sea in this animated gif.