Roman Space Telescope Archives

Example of the optical design for the NIR coronagraph. (Top) Overall layout of the optical system, where the post-coronagraph section shows only the imaging part and omits the spectroscopic part. (Bottom) Enlarged view of the imaging part. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Japan’s Possible Contributions For Coronagraph Of The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)

by Keith CowingJune 12, 2026June 12, 2026

In this paper, we describe Japan’s possible contributions for coronagraph of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) based on our independent study.

Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are fairly common across our galaxy, but they don’t appear in our own solar system. Their size ranges fall in between Earth and Neptune. Credit: Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC/SELab)

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Finding Patterns in Planets: Researchers Explore the Demographics of Alien Worlds in K2 Data

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026

Our galaxy is jam-packed with planets, with thousands already discovered and millions more expected to eventually come into view. Within this ever-growing bounty, surprises have abounded, revealing that our solar […]

Galactic Bulge Survey Wide-Field Science -- NASA

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Laying the Foundation for a Comprehensive View of Transiting Exoplanets with the Galactic Bulge Survey

by Keith CowingFebruary 11, 2026June 11, 2026

The primary science driver of the Roman Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey (GBTDS) is the detection and demographics of cold exoplanets via microlensing (Astro2010, Penny et al. 2019).

Simulated light curves for triple-lens systems where at least one planet lies in the resonant regime, as defined by the massratio-dependent boundaries (Equations 7) These configurations generally show strong central caustic perturbations and yield the highest detection efficiencies in our sample. For each case, the two smaller panels show the triple-lens magnification map and the map of the relative difference between the triple- and binary-lens models near the central caustic. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Predictions Of The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. V. Detection Rates of Multiplanetary Systems In High Magnification Microlensing Events

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2025

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand the reach of gravitational microlensing surveys by increasing the number of events monitored and the precision of their light curves.

[LEFT:] A Rare Brown Dwarf: HIP 71618 B [RIGHT:] A New Giant Planet: HIP 54515 b -- W. M. Keck Observatory and the Subaru Telescope.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Discoveries From Maunakea Reveal Hidden Worlds Around Accelerating Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2025December 17, 2025

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory and the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have discovered a massive planet and a brown dwarf orbiting distant stars—two rare companions that deepen […]

Image of HIP 71618 B (indicated by the arrow) taken by the Subaru Telescope. The planet’s host star has been blocked in this image. The star’s position is indicated by the star mark. The high resolution image and the image without text are available from the links. (Credit: T. Currie/Subaru Telescope, UTSA)

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

First Results From The Subaru Telescope’s OASIS Survey: Direct Imaging Of New Worlds Around Unexplored Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 7, 2025December 7, 2025

The discovery of two remarkable substellar companions orbiting distant stars has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the Subaru Telescope’s sharp adaptive-optics imaging together with precision stellar […]

Maps of average lensing parameters of simulated microlensing events due to different BFFPs over the 2D space log10[s(AU)]−log10[Mtot(M⊕)]. Here, Fi and Fw are fractions of simulated microlensing events due to BFFPs with intermediate and wide caustic topologies, respectively. ρ? shows the source radius projected on the lens plane and normalized to the Einstein radius, Lc is a length scale for caustic curves, ∆c represents the caustic area, τ is a time scale for microlensing events due to BFFPs, and P is the orbital period of binary lenses. -- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

On the Detection of Binary Free-Floating Planets in the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey

by Keith CowingOctober 31, 2025October 31, 2025

The recent discovery of 40 binary Jupiter-mass free-floating planets in the Trapezium cluster by the James Webb Space Telescope (Pearson & McCaughrean 2023) has opened new windows and questions in […]

Scientists have found thousands of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) throughout the galaxy. Most can be studied only indirectly, but scientists know they vary widely, as depicted in this artist’s concept, from small, rocky worlds and gas giants to water-rich planets and those as hot as stars. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

NASA’s Exoplanet Discovery Exceeds 6,000 Worlds

by Keith CowingSeptember 17, 2025September 17, 2025

The official number of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by […]

Physical parameters of the simulated events with and without detected moons. In each panel, the grey points show the events our simulation where a moon was not detected, i.e., these are the distributions of the physical parameters of the planets and moons we simulated. The stars show events where the moon was detected. The blue markers indicate the locations of the light curves shown in Figure 6 in these parameter spaces. Each panel shows (a) the planet/star mass ratio versus planet projected separation in units of the Einstein ring radius of the system. The lines indicate the boundaries of the resonant caustic region that we exclude from our sample; (b) the planet mass versus the planet semimajor axis; (c) moon/planet mass ratio versus the moon-planet separation in units of the Einstein ring radius of the planet; (d) moon mass versus semimajor axis of the moon in units of the Hill radius. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Predictions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. III. Detectability of Giant Exomoons of Wide Separation Giant Planets

by Keith CowingSeptember 7, 2025September 7, 2025

Roman should be sensitive to lenses with mass down to ~ 0.02 M⊕, or roughly the mass of Ganymede. Thus the detection of moons with masses similar to the giant […]

(left) Electromagnetic model showing the suppression of AKR and Earth transmitters on the far side of the Moon (Bassett et al. 2020). (Right) Eight candidate sites on the farside identified in Krolikowski & Elvis 2024 for a lunar radio array considering available area and surface smoothness. Further work is necessary to downselect to a single site, potentially through contributions of human exploration to site surveys. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Status Report

Identifying Habitable Exoplanets With Radio Telescopes On The Lunar Farside

by Keith CowingAugust 21, 2025August 21, 2025

The search for habitable conditions beyond Earth is a top priority in astrophysics.

Roman Space Telescope

Japan’s Possible Contributions For Coronagraph Of The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)

Finding Patterns in Planets: Researchers Explore the Demographics of Alien Worlds in K2 Data

Laying the Foundation for a Comprehensive View of Transiting Exoplanets with the Galactic Bulge Survey

Predictions Of The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. V. Detection Rates of Multiplanetary Systems In High Magnification Microlensing Events

Discoveries From Maunakea Reveal Hidden Worlds Around Accelerating Stars

First Results From The Subaru Telescope’s OASIS Survey: Direct Imaging Of New Worlds Around Unexplored Stars

On the Detection of Binary Free-Floating Planets in the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey

NASA’s Exoplanet Discovery Exceeds 6,000 Worlds

Predictions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. III. Detectability of Giant Exomoons of Wide Separation Giant Planets

Identifying Habitable Exoplanets With Radio Telescopes On The Lunar Farside

A Search For Narrowband Technosignatures From LTT 3780 With The Allen Telescope Array And The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array

Tricorder Tech: Identifying Proteins, Molecule By Molecule

First Completed Rocky Worlds Program Observations Open New Era in Exoplanet Studies

Pioneer 10/11 Telemetry Explanatory Almanac

Diverse Organic Molecules Discovered Surrounding A Newly Formed Star