Hubble Previews Targets for Roman’s Longer, Sharper Cosmic Survey
WHO:
NASA - NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a gallery of gravitational lenses to provide targets for follow-up observations by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Live Science - Eamonn Kerins, an astronomer at the University of Manchester in the U.K., will help lead one of Roman’s major surveys and leads the Exoplanet Demographics Working Group for the Transits in the Roman Exoplanets Survey.
Live Science - Jamie Dunn is director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Alison Rao is Roman’s propulsion lead at NASA Goddard.
Live Science - Alden Jurling is a senior optical engineer working on Roman at NASA Goddard; Maxime Rizzo is a Wide Field Instrument systems engineer there.
WHAT:
Live Science - Roman is expected to survey the universe for an estimated 100,000 new worlds.
Live Science - Roman’s first Wide Field Instrument test images showed blurry green dots captured by its 18 light detectors; NASA released the images during commissioning.
Live Science - Roman’s full-resolution survey images could require dozens of high-definition TVs to display, Kerins said.
Live Science - Roman’s extended lifetime could let astronomers compare observations of objects decades apart, including expanding nebulas and colliding galaxies.
Live Science - Roman’s coronagraph blocks light from distant stars so the Wide Field Instrument can detect planets.
NASA - Hubble’s gravitational-lens gallery showcases the phenomenon’s diversity and lays groundwork for Roman follow-up observations.
Live Science - Roman is a $4 billion flagship telescope, over 42 feet (12.7 meters) long, and about the weight of a fully grown Tyrannosaurus rex. It launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and is traveling to Lagrange point 2 (L2).
Live Science - Roman’s journey was about 85% complete; its instruments were being remotely tested, and scientists expected it to be ready for its first in-depth cosmic images upon arrival.
Live Science - Precise rocket burns and lower-than-planned spacecraft weight could provide 12 additional years of fuel, potentially extending Roman’s planned 10-year mission to more than 20 years, possibly through 2048.
Live Science - Roman’s Wide Field Instrument (WFI) has a 288-megapixel camera and a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) mirror. Its field of view is about 100 times Hubble’s, and its survey images are expected to be around 30% sharper than predicted.
Live Science - Roman can collect data up to 1,000 times faster than Hubble. Kerins said a 20-year Roman mission could theoretically accomplish “over 20,000 years of Hubble survey work.”
Live Science - Roman’s coronagraph passed its main commissioning phase and was working as intended. Ground stations established contact and were receiving signals; they are expected to receive up to 1.4 terabytes of data daily.
Live Science - Kerins said, “The possibilities are truly breathtaking,” and called Roman’s performance “a remarkable achievement.”
WHERE:
Live Science - Roman is headed to L2, more than 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balance. It will join the James Webb Space Telescope and ESA’s Euclid telescope.
WHY:
Live Science - Kerins said Roman’s sharper images do not necessarily mean it will find more exoplanets than initially predicted.
NASA - Hubble’s lens gallery is intended to help identify targets for Roman’s follow-up observations.
Live Science - Extra fuel could extend Roman’s science mission; sharper images may support surveys, including searches for potentially habitable exoplanets.
HOW:
Live Science - Roman’s first major engine firings helped it escape Earth’s orbit and begin its journey to L2.
Live Science - The fuel savings resulted from carefully planned, precisely executed rocket burns and the ability to fill propellant tanks to capacity because Roman weighed less than budgeted.
Live Science - Engineers realigned Roman’s mirror by one-sixteenth the diameter of a human hair, improving expected image sharpness.
(UPDATED November 12, 2026 23:02 UTC)
Hubble revealed gravitational lenses that will guide follow-up observations by NASA’s Roman telescope. Roman’s test images show blurry green dots, while its camera surveys vast cosmic fields. Efficient fuel use could extend Roman’s mission, enabling decades of observations and new discoveries.
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(UPDATED November 12, 2026 15:02 UTC)
Hubble’s gravitational-lens gallery is preparing targets for Roman telescope follow-up observations. Roman is nearing its destination, with instruments tested and its coronagraph working. Its wide-field camera could survey the cosmos far faster than Hubble.