NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has been launched from Florida, embarking on a mission to explore some of the universe’s biggest mysteries.
With a 2.4-metre-wide primary mirror, Roman can capture an area of sky more than 100 times larger than Hubble, allowing astronomers to survey the cosmos on an unprecedented scale.
The 4.3 billion dollar observatory is designed to revolutionise infrared astronomy. It carries a specialised instrument called a coronagraph, which can block the intense glare of stars, making it easier to observe faint objects such as exoplanets and planet-forming disks.
Over the next five years, Roman could help scientists discover previously unseen galaxies and exoplanets while providing new insights into the nature of dark energy and the evolution of the universe.
Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer and widely regarded as the “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope.”
