GoKawiilAstronomers have known for decades that an invisible substance permeates the cosmos. Detected only by its gravitational influence on visible objects, dark matter accounts for some 85 percent of all matter, enveloping entire galaxies in great spheroids that branch and interweave to form the scaffolding of the universe.
But the specifications of this grand architecture remain shrouded in mystery. Driven by a ghostly force that scientists call dark energy, the universe is ever-changing, constantly expanding at an accelerating rate.
A new space telescope, launching as soon as August 30 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will attempt to untangle the nature of these dark intergalactic phenomena. With the resolution of Hubble and a field of view about 100 times as big, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide a new way to look at the universe that could help solve some of the biggest questions in astrophysics.
“An observatory like Roman is intrinsically a discovery machine,” says Julie McEnery, NASA’s senior project scientist for the space telescope. “We're going to find rare things, unusual things, new things, surprising things.”
During its five-year primary mission, Roman will map expansive swaths of space to develop a comprehensive picture of galaxies and dark matter, helping scientists understand how the universe’s largest formations change over time. The telescope, named for the first chief astronomer of NASA, will trace astrophysical structures by measuring subtle distortions of light caused by gravity, allowing scientists to study how dark energy is driving cosmic evolution.
“We’re not measuring the property of something in the universe,” McEnery says of this work. “We’re understanding how the universe we’re in fundamentally works.”
Roman’s sharp, wide view is also expected to capture as many as 200,000 new planets, an extraordinary leap from the roughly 6,300 confirmed exoplanets. The telescope will spot most of these worlds as they block some of the light from their host stars, but its high sensitivity will allow it to detect an additional 1,000 or so by measuring the planets’ gravitational effects on starlight.
Given the space telescope’s powerful resolution and wide area of study, there’s no telling exactly what else it may find.
“The most exciting science from Roman,” McEnery says, “may well be something that we can't even imagine now.”
Whole New Worlds
... continue reading