A new eye on the sky
NASA has launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a new observatory that will study dark energy, dark matter, and planets beyond our solar system. The telescope lifted off after years of development and budget battles.
Roman is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer, who helped plan the Hubble Space Telescope. The new mission carries a wide-field instrument that can capture large areas of the sky in a single image.
Dark energy and dark matter
Scientists know that the universe is expanding faster over time. They call the force behind this acceleration dark energy. It makes up most of the universe's energy, but no one has directly detected it.
Roman will map hundreds of millions of galaxies to measure how expansion has changed over billions of years. The data will help scientists test ideas about dark energy and dark matter, the invisible substance that holds galaxies together.
Planets and more
The telescope will also hunt for exoplanets using a method called gravitational microlensing. When a star passes in front of another star, its gravity bends light and can reveal planets orbiting the closer star. This technique can find worlds that other detection methods miss.
Astronomers expect Roman to find thousands of planets, including rocky worlds that could support life. The mission is set to observe for at least five years, with the first images expected in the coming months. The launch marks a new chapter in space science, and the data should keep researchers busy for a decade.