Roman Space Telescope Will Provide Unprecedented Views Of Alien Worlds

Space.com

The Roman Space Telescope's next generation coronagraph instrument will help deliver amazing views of exoplanets. Learn how it works. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will send the hunt for exoplanets into warp speed.   Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center  Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Producer Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer Neil Gehrels (NASA/GSFC): Scientist Krystofer Kim (USRA): Lead Animator Claire Andreoli (NASA/GSFC): Lead Public Affairs Officer Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Narrator

Transcript

00:00A coronagraph is a way to see distant planets hidden by the glare of the star they orbit.

00:08The coronagraph reduces the light coming directly from the star

00:12to separate it from the light reflected by the planet.

00:15The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's coronagraph

00:18doesn't block the star's light with an opaque disk as a simple coronagraph might.

00:23Instead, it uses a combination of disks with complex patterns

00:28and light blocking stops to create destructive interference with the star's light,

00:33effectively making it disappear while allowing the light from planets to pass through.

00:38A complicating factor is that the light picks up small distortions

00:42as it reflects off the telescope's series of mirrors,

00:45and these distortions can reduce the effectiveness of the destructive interference.

00:49Collecting more light increases the image signal,

00:52but the planets are still hidden under blobs of leftover, distorted starlight.

00:57To remove these blobs, the coronagraph has special deformable mirrors

01:01that can change shape by using hundreds of tiny pistons.

01:04This corrects distortions in the light beam.

01:07As the mirrors deform, the blobs of light slowly begin to disappear, revealing brighter planets.

01:13Further adjustment brings fainter planets into view.

01:17Advanced software processes this data,

01:20further improving the contrast and clarity of the image.

01:23This processing makes objects more than a billion times fainter than the star visible.

01:28As a result, the Roman Space Telescope will provide the first look at individual planets

01:34in star systems that might be similar to our own.

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