#roman science

[spacetelescopescience]

When a star wanders too close to a supermassive black hole, it can be shredded in a process known as a tidal disruption event (seen here in an artist’s concept).

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will excel at finding these events in the early universe, up to 11 billion years ago. Learn how that may provide clues to black hole origins: https://news.stsci.edu/4vxvz6Q

[lindahall]

Cicero – Scientist of the Day

Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman statesman, writer and orator, died Dec. 7, 43 B.C.E.   Cicero was not much of a philosopher, and even less of a scientist.

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[welcome-to-the-romans]

HE DOESN'T HAVE A SNAKEBITE

[spacetelescopescience]

While the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to show us more galaxies than have ever been seen before, it’s how the observatory will work with the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes that astronomers are excited about.

Scientists will be able to use Roman’s surveys of the sky to pick interesting objects to follow up on with Hubble and James Webb space telescopes in detail, demonstrating how the observatories will work together.

Credit: D. Kirshenblat/STScI.

[spacetelescopescience]

Did you know the soon-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will map our universe? 🗺️

Through its High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey, Roman will help astronomers study the universe’s large—and mostly hidden—structure by measuring distances to millions of galaxies. Over 520 days during the telescope’s five-year primary mission, Roman will observe 12% of the entire sky—equivalent to about 25,500 full moons. 🌕

This Roman survey will shed light on some of the perplexing aspects of the cosmos, including dark energy, dark matter, and the universe’s accelerating expansion. Roman will also uncover hundreds of millions of galaxies, providing insight about their evolution and the stellar populations within them.

Credit: STScI.

[spacetelescopescience]

What is dark matter? Astronomers have been trying to figure that out for nearly 100 years. It’s completely invisible, but scientists can see gravitational effect on other matter. In fact, it’s easier to be explained by explaining what it’s not.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide insights into this mystery.

Credit: D. Kirshenblat/STScI.

[spacetelescopescience]

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s “next big thing.” Roman will be able to map large sections of space, like some ground-based observatories, with the amazing sharpness of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Credit: D. Kirshenblat/STScI.

[spacetelescopescience]

🔊 Sound on for this sonification of exploding stars and other things that go “bump” in the universe! This video—created with simulated data—demonstrates the power of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to detect supernovas, kilonovas, and other things that pop, flash, and change over time. One of Roman’s observing programs, the High-Latitude Time-Doman Survey, is expected to net tens of thousands of exploding stars known as Type Ia supernovas. They’re important because they can be used to measure the expansion history of the universe—which may help us understand the universe’s fate: https://bit.ly/4ftjQip