New telescope could uncover the universe’s secrets

 

Dark matter and dark energy account for 95% of the universe, but we still know even less about them than where all your missing socks went. NASA’s new space telescope could help scientists learn more.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (named after NASA’s first chief astronomer) launched into space yesterday atop a SpaceX rocket toward an observation point about 1 million miles from Earth, where it will survey the cosmos like never before:

• Its field of view is more than 100 times wider than Hubble’s—and its camera is much faster. It can observe in a month what it would have taken Hubble a century to do, the Associated Press reported.
• Roman has a special instrument to block out starlight, making it easier to image planets orbiting other stars.
• The telescope’s main mirror was repurposed from a powerful spy satellite donated by the National Reconnaissance Office.

Roman’s ultimate goals are to 1) shed light on the enigmatic nature of dark energy and 2) understand more about the many Earth-like planets that scientists theorize are out there. “Roman’s vast reach will allow us to find the weird, the rare, and the unusual,” a senior project scientist told the AP.

The Roman candle was almost unlit. The Trump administration proposed canceling the $4.3 billion project as part of budget cuts before Congress stepped in to fund it.—AE