Roman Science

Explore the following categories of the science surveys and programs that the Roman Space Telescope will explore

Dark Matter

Dark Energy

Roman will help illuminate the dark energy puzzle by using multiple methods to explore how the universe has evolved throughout cosmic history.

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Dark Energy
Dark Energy

Exoplanets

In little more than a generation, we’ve gone from knowing only of our own solar system to finding thousands of more distant worlds, known as exoplanets. As new exoplanet discoveries continue to pour in, scientists are building an ever-more-complete catalog of the worlds that grace our galaxy.

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Dark Matter

Scientists are trying to determine what dark matter is made of, but our current understanding has many gaps. Roman will provide clarity by exploring the structure and distribution of both normal matter and dark matter across space and time.

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Dark Matter
Dark Matter

Observing with Roman Surveys

The Roman Space Telescope's exquisite sensitivity and fast survey speed will unveil the evolving universe in ways that have never been possible before.

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Roman Space Telescope’s High Latitude Time-Domain Survey tiling pattern
Possible layout of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s High Latitude Time-Domain Survey tiling pattern. The observing program will be designed by a community process, but it is expected to cover five square degrees – a region of the sky as large as 25 full moons – and pierce far into space, back to when the universe was about 500 million years old, less than 4 percent of its current age of 13.8 billion years.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

General Investigator Program

Scientists will be able to submit proposals for funding to support science investigations with Roman.

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Illustration of the TRAPPIST-1 system
Only 40 light-years away — a stone’s throw on the scale of our galaxy — several Earth-sized planets orbit the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. Four of the planets lie in the star’s habitable zone, a region at a distance from the star where liquid water, the key to life as we know it, could exist on the planets’ surfaces. Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of these worlds. Hubble reveals that at least three of the exoplanets do not seem to contain puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres similar to gaseous planets such as Neptune. This means the atmospheres may be more shallow and rich in heavier gases like those found in Earth’s atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen. Astronomers plan to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2019, to probe deeper into the planetary atmospheres to search for the presence of such elements that could offer hints of whether these far-flung worlds are habitable.
Artist's Concept: NASA/JPL-Calte

Large Area Near-Infrared Surveys 

While Roman is designed to probe specific topics like dark energy, its wide, deep observations will provide a treasure trove of data scientists can also use for a broad range of additional investigations.

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Near-Infrared Science
Near-Infrared Science

For Scientists

Find more detailed information for science, including events, documentation, etc.