{
  "id": 3341864,
  "title": "NASA Ames’ Contributions to Roman’s Mission",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/nasa-ames-contributions-to-romans-mission-3341864",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-25T19:44:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "NASA",
    "slug": "nasa",
    "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-ames-contributions-to-romans-mission/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is an observatory designed to explore fundamental questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. Scheduled to launch on August 30, the telescope aims to investigate vast regions of the cosmos and unravel the mysteries of dark matter, planets beyond our solar system, and galaxy formation over cosmic time.\n\nThe mission benefits from key contributions made by researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. These experts utilize the center's facilities, expertise, and innovations to advance Roman's scientific objectives. One such contribution involves tools to predict and eliminate glare from Roman's main camera, the Wide Field Instrument. This instrument captures high-resolution, expansive images of the universe in optical and near-infrared light, enabling astronomers to decode some of the cosmos' most profound enigmas.\n\nRoman's camera, however, faces significant challenges from various forms of glare. This glare reduces image quality and hampers astronomers' ability to characterize specific cosmic structures. Innovative software called ROSALIA (Roman Sky Analyst for Low Surface Brightness Imaging and Astronomy) was developed by a team at NASA Ames in collaboration with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and IPAC/Caltech. This software predicts and removes unwanted light from astronomical images captured by Roman's Wide Field Instrument.\n\nGlare arises from photons scattering inside the telescope's optical system, resulting in deceptive image artifacts that resemble real planets or nebulae. Another source of glare is stray light, which can appear as a diffuse background, interfering with observations of the universe's darkest regions. This is crucial for understanding how large structures in the universe formed. Additionally, zodiacal light, caused by sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust particles in our solar system, contributes to obscuring background light. The ROSALIA software predicts and strips away background contamination, including zodiacal and stray light from images, unveiling the faint, diffuse emissions at galaxy edges where cosmic evolutionary histories lie hidden.\n\nSimulated images demonstrate the impact of ROSALIA's software on Roman's captured data. One simulated unprocessed image shows two interacting galaxies, while another processed image, using ROSALIA's tools, removes glare and reveals the same galaxies. A similar comparison can be made with simulated images that include unprocessed and processed data, highlighting the software's effectiveness in enhancing Roman's observations and optimizing its scientific potential.",
  "summary": "Set to launch on Sunday, Aug. 30, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will empower astronomers to explore vast regions of the cosmos and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, dark matter, planets outside our solar system, and the formation and growth of galaxies over cosmic time. Key contributions to Roman’s mission […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "NASA Science",
        "title": "NASA Ames’ Contributions to Roman’s Mission",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/nasa-ames-contributions-to-romans-mission",
        "published": "2026-08-25T19:44:55.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}