NASA's Roman Space Telescope to Use Gravity as a Magnifying Glass to Find Distant Planets

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launched on August 30, 2026, will study the universe's biggest mysteries, including dark energy and galaxy formation. It will also search for exoplanets using an unusual method: gravitational microlensing. This phenomenon occurs when a star's gravity bends light from a distant star, making it appear brighter. By monitoring hundreds of millions of stars, Roman will watch for these temporary brightenings, which can indicate the presence of a planet. The telescope's sharp infrared vision and wide field of view make it well-suited for this task. Roman will observe six fields of view toward the Milky Way's crowded center, monitoring stars roughly once every 12 minutes during six intensive observing seasons. This will allow it to discover thousands of planets on relatively wide orbits, particularly valuable because most known exoplanets orbit close to their stars. Roman will also measure the brightness of hundreds of millions of stars, revealing around 100,000 transiting planets.