New results in The Astrophysical Journal Letters detail Hubble imaging of 1.1 square degrees of the Milky Way’s bulge, a precursor dataset for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope before its planned September launch.
That survey is designed to help Roman interpret gravitational microlensing events by identifying likely lens and source stars in advance, reducing confusion in the bulge’s densely packed stellar fields.
Hubble’s higher angular resolution and bluer-light coverage should also improve mass estimates for detected planets and stars, map dust-obscured extinction zones, and support a new stellar catalog.
Sean Terry said Hubble will catalog about 20 million to 30 million point sources, while Roman’s 15-month Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey could expand that to roughly 200 million to 300 million stars.
The handoff comes as Roman remains ahead of schedule and under budget, with NASA expecting the observatory at Sun-Earth L2 to conduct a broad census of exoplanets, rogue planets, brown dwarfs, neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes.
With Hubble's groundwork laid, what cosmic mystery will the Roman telescope likely solve first after its September launch?
How will astronomers sift through 500 terabytes of annual data from Roman to find new planets and hidden black holes?
NASA's Roman telescope is under budget and ahead of schedule. What lessons does its rare success offer for future flagship missions?
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Launching a New Era in Galactic Exploration and Citizen Science
Overview
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is nearing launch after completing development ahead of schedule, thanks to a strategy that combined programmatic planning with technical risk assessments. By ensuring all team members understood the balance between cost, schedule, and technical needs, and by setting an early cost cap with forward-phased funding, the project avoided cash flow issues and enabled smart decisions throughout its lifecycle. Roman’s efficient design, featuring fewer deployable components and rapid post-launch deployment, positions it as a new model for effective space mission development and sets a high standard for future NASA projects.