Roman’s Galactic Plane Survey Definition Committee Formed

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope plans to survey the Galactic Plane for approximately one month early in the five-year mission. The Roman Project at NASA previously released a Request for Information to the science community in order to (a) solicit comments on whether to select an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey, and (b) to outline and submit survey concepts that would demonstrably benefit from selection as an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey. The committee found that there was sufficient justification to define an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey through a community-led process, and the top ranked concept was a survey of the Galactic plane. 

A community process to define the specifics of this survey is now underway, similar to that of the Core Community Surveys. A Galactic Plane Survey definition committee has been formed with members of the astronomical community whose scientific expertise encompasses the breadth of input presented in the 33 science pitches and 10 white papers previously submitted. The committee’s charter charges them with assessing community input, investigating various observational strategies to maximize the science return of the survey, and producing a recommendation for multiple survey options (such as a minimal, nominal, and optimal survey). The committee is expected to deliver a report summarizing the recommended survey options, including a discussion of the scientific tradeoffs, the time required, and the observational constraints of each option to the Roman Project by April, 2025 for dissemination to the Roman Observations Time Allocation Committee (ROTAC). The ROTAC will review the input of the committees and make a recommendation to the Roman Project at NASA Goddard in Spring 2025 on the implementation of the surveys and the amount of time to be dedicated to the survey.

Galactic Plane Survey Committee Membership

• Bob Benjamin, U Wisconsin-Whitewater (Co-chair)

• Rachel Street, Las Cumbres Observatory (Co-chair)

• Rachael Beaton, STScI

• Sean Carey, Caltech/IPAC

• Kishalay De, MIT

• Janet Drew, University College London

• Matthew De Furio, UT Austin

• Thomas Kupfer, Universität Hamburg

• Dante Minniti, Universidad Andrés Bello

• Roberta Paladini, Caltech/IPAC

• Eddie Schlafly, STScI

• Catherine Zucker, CfA | Harvard & Smithsonian

Next Roman Community Forum Oct 30, 4pm Eastern: Roman Science Platform

In an email from Goddard:

Dear Roman Enthusiasts,

Our next community forum will be held Wednesday October 30 at 4pm Eastern. Please join us to hear the latest updates on the status of the mission.

We will also have an update from the Science Operations Center on the Roman Science Platform.

Connection information below.
https://nasaenterprise.webex.com/nasaenterprise/j.php?MTID=m3deb1f08402e184606073a3870c72093

Roman Aces Crucial 'Spin Test'

A major component of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope just took a spin on the centrifuge at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Called the Outer Barrel Assembly, this piece of the observatory is designed to keep the telescope at a stable temperature and shield it from stray light.

Full Story: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/nasas-roman-space-telescopes-exoskeleton-whirls-through-major-test/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASAGoddard&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=627211032

Full Video: 

Roman/Subaru Workshop and White Paper preparation

The Roman-Subaru Synergistic Observation Workshop VI will be held December 16-18, 2024 (JST) in Tokyo, Japan. Registration for the workshop is now open and closes on November 15, 2024. The format for the workshop is both in-person and online. Workshop information can be found here, https://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/Roman_VI/index.html.

JAXA is an international partner on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. One of the key areas of the collaboration is conducting Roman-Subaru Synergistic Observations, in cooperation with the Subaru Telescope and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Roman-Subaru Synergistic Observations will bring great scientific benefits in astronomy, since both facilities have complementary powerful wide-field and high-contrast capabilities. While both facilities are very powerful by themselves, the combination of the complementary data should bring new insights. Based on the support of the Subaru science community, the Subaru Telescope is ready to reserve 100 nights during or reasonably after the Roman nominal mission period of 5.3 years after launch. The coordination of the program for the 100 nights is led by a Steering Group whose members were designated by the JAXA and NASA Roman science leads. The 100 nights are not expected to be filled by many small programs that can be conducted by the Normal Programs of Subaru Open Use, but assigned for a few large programs along the Themes that will be identified by the Steering Group using community White Papers as input.

In order to identify the selected Themes of the Synergistic Observations of the 100 nights, the Steering Group calls for White Papers from the Roman and Subaru science communities. The submitted White Papers will be carefully reviewed by the Steering Group with the help of external experts. Based on the submitted White Papers and the review results, the Steering Group will identify and announce the selected Themes.

The call for White Papers can be found here, https://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/Roman_VI/callforWP.html. The deadline for White Paper submission is January 31, 2025.

In order to deepen collaborative efforts, widely discuss the merits of various programs, and boost teaming up for White Paper submissions, a dedicated Workshop will be held in December 2024. Prior to the workshop, slides for short presentations are requested to guide the discussions for the workshop. This is aimed at members of the coordinated teams in the Roman and Subaru science communities, including NASA Roman Science Teams (WFS, PITs, CPP) and JAXA Roman science teams. Coordinated proposals from the Roman and Subaru communities are greatly encouraged. People who are not members of any Roman science team can submit proposals for presentations, but they are encouraged to coordinate with members of the existing Roman/Subaru community. Slide submission details are linked to from the workshop webpage, above. Submission of the short presentation slides is not mandatory for contributing to the talks at the Workshop or for submission of White Papers, but it is highly recommended in order to put topics in the discussion area of the workshop. The deadline for submission of pre-workshop slides is October 31, 2024.

Steering Group: Yusei Koyama (Subaru Telescope), Yoshiki Matsuoka (Ehime University), Julie McEnery (NASA GSFC), Jason Rhodes (NASA JPL), Takahiro Sumi (Osaka University), David Weinberg (Ohio State University), Toru Yamada (JAXA)

Last Call: "Transients From Space" Abstract Deadline Friday Nov1

Transients From Space Workshop
March 11th – March 13th, 2025
Abstract Due Nov 1!

Save the Date! We are pleased to announce that the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) will host a workshop on transients and time-domain astronomy titled “Transients From Space” (TFS) on March 11-13, 2025 at STScI in Baltimore, MD.

Transient science is entering an exciting new era of discovery. The 2020 Decadal Survey named Time Domain Astronomy (TDA) as a top priority, and NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) program has prioritized Time Domain And Multi-Messenger (TDAMM) astrophysics. New discoveries will be greatly impacted by space-based telescopes, including, but not limited to, HST, JWST, Swift, Fermi, TESS, Euclid, UVEX, ULTRASAT, LISA, and Roman. These telescopes probe new phase space in time, wavelength, and redshift, thereby opening up new sub-fields. This STScI workshop will explore novel research made possible by these telescopes and discuss how the community can optimize scientific output in the future. It will feature invited talks, contributed talks, posters, discussion panels, and fun social activities.

Read more at full website: https://www.stsci.edu/contents/events/stsci/2025/march/transients-from-space

2024 Roman Merch Store Now Open Through Nov 4

Get some of the trendiest Roman Merch on the market. Orders can be placed now and will remain open only through November 4th at midnight. No orders will be accepted after the closing.

Please use this link to access the 2024 Roman Merchandise store - NASA Roman Merchandise – Holiday 2024 https://romanholiday2024.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Sign-Up for Roman Workshops at the AAS

Roman will host two workshops at AAS that may be of interest. These workshops will provide attendees an opportunity to become familiar with Roman data products and the new cloud science platform. Workshop attendance requires advance registration. As you register for AAS in the coming weeks, please consider signing up for one.

Sunday, 12 January

• Python Data Analysis with the James Webb and Roman Space Telescopes
• Preparing for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: The New Cloud Science Platform

https://aas.org/meetings/aas245/workshops

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