The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s next flagship astrophysics mission, set to launch by May 2027.
Once #Roman launches, it will allow astronomers to observe the universe like never before. In celebration of Black History Month, let’s get to know some Black scientists and engineers, past and present, whose contributions will allow Roman to make history.
Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,’ the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a field of view at least 100 times greater than Hubble, potentially measuring light from a billion galaxies in its lifetime.
In this map of a celestial hemisphere — compiled from data from the #eROSITA telescope — the colours reflect the wavelengths of X-rays. Hot gas haloes surrounding galaxy clusters have broad-band emissions (white), as do black holes (white dots); diffuse emissions have long wavelengths (red); and in the central regions of the Milky Way, dust blocks longer-wavelength emissions, so that only short-wavelength X-rays are visible (blue or black).