The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will devote a majority of the first five years of the mission to surveys that are being defined by the science community. This includes Roman’s Core Community Surveys, which serve to meet Roman’s mission-level science requirements for investigating the nature of dark energy and the fate of the universe, and the demographics of exoplanets. The surveys consist of the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey (GBTDS), High Latitude Time-Domain Survey (HLTDS), and High Latitude Wide Area Survey (HLWAS). The primary goal for the definition of each of these is to maximize the science performed with Roman’s infrared surveys.

To define the details of each survey (e.g., field selection, filter selection and depth, observation cadence, etc.), a definition committee has been formed for each of the three Core Community Surveys comprised of members of the community. The committee membership was selected to ensure that the breadth of interests of the scientific community in using Roman were well represented. The committees have been charged with assessing community input, investigating various observational strategies to maximize the science return of the surveys, and producing a recommendation for multiple survey options (such as a minimal, nominal, and optimal survey definition). The committees are 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 at NASA Goddard by November 2024 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 on the implementation of the surveys and the amount of time to be dedicated to each survey.

The three definition committees would like feedback and input on the survey options and strategies they are considering. Each definition committee will hold two virtual town halls spread over two weeks, in late August / early September, to give a progress report and hear from the community. The times of the town halls aim at maximizing attendance over different time zones.

Dial-in Info:

Webex link

Meeting number (access code): 2821 833 2150
Meeting password: sBVgvmR@337 (72848671 when dialing from a phone or video system)

Schedule:

Mon Aug 26 | 7:00pm EDT GBTDS - Daniel Huber
Wed Aug 28 | 10:00am EDT HLTDS - Brad Cenko
Thu Aug 29 | 7:00pm EDT: HLWAS - Ryan Hickox

Tue Sep 3 | 7:00pm EDT HLTDS - Masao Sako
Wed Sep 4 | 10:00am EDT GBTDS - Jessie Christiansen
Thur Sep 5 | 10:00am EDT HLWAS - Ryan Hickox

We look forward to having you join us in the coming weeks.

On behalf of the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope’s Project Scientist Team at NASA Goddard’s Project Science Office (PSO), the Science Support Center (SSC) at IPAC, and the Science Operations Center (SOC) at STScI.