A new telescope has been launched
into space to study the universe.
The
Nancy Grace Roman
Space Telescope (RST) has the same size main mirror as the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) but sees 100 times more sky during each snapshot.
This is possible because when compared to HST, RST's main mirror is
more curved, its secondary mirror is closer, and its
main camera is larger.
The result is that
RST can inspect more of the sky more quickly,
likely allowing, among other capabilities, the discovery of
many more supernovas which tell us more about the expansion rate and
composition of our
universe, and
many more planets
orbiting other stars that tell us more about the
possibilities for
life elsewhere in the universe.
RST will
orbit the Sun, not the Earth, like the
James Webb Space Telescope.
The
featured video shows
Roman being launched yesterday from
Kennedy Space Center,
Florida,
USA aboard a
SpaceX
Falcon Heavy rocket.