Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Capturing Our Cosmic Home | STScI

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Capturing Our Cosmic Home | STScI

Astronomers have spoken: Important exploration happens close to home. While NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will reveal wonders of the distant universe, the astronomy community has made clear they want to prioritize our home galaxy, the Milky Way, as well.

A survey of the galactic plane (our view of the Milky Way from our position within it) was selected by astronomers to be planned in advance of Roman’s launch. Within the rich environment of the galactic plane, where most of the Milky Way’s stars, gas, and cosmic dust are concentrated, there are countless discoveries waiting to be made. Roman will gather a detailed census of the Milky Way’s stars, mapping more stars than all previous telescope observations combined. And with Roman’s wide field of view, it will only take about a month!

This vast quantity of Hubble-quality data will allow astronomers to trace our galaxy’s history of star formation and changes in cosmic dust, filling in blank pages in the Milky Way’s story. Roman will help astronomers, and all of us, address one of humanity’s biggest questions: How did we get here?

Roman’s pre-planned surveys aim to maximize the mission’s science potential during its first five years, gathering vast amounts of images and information that will fuel research for many years to come. The scientific possibilities are vast—in addition to the star formation and galaxy development, Roman will provide new insight into the structure of the Milky Way and allow researchers to create 3D maps of the galaxy’s dust clouds. And as new discoveries are made in the future in galaxies across the universe, we will have Roman’s detailed study of our own galaxy for comparison. Any researcher who wants to use Roman’s images and data will be able to do so, right from the start of the mission. This opens up the many potential uses, and discoveries, even more broadly. We can’t even imagine the universe that Roman will reveal. 

Discover more about Roman’s surveys and the discoveries they will enable: https://www.stsci.edu/roman

Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Duration: 1 minute, 42 seconds
Release Date: April 29, 2025

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