{
  "id": 8664309,
  "title": "'We are on our way to groundbreaking science': Stars turn neon-green in first test image from NASA's Roman telescope — Space photo of the week",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/we-are-on-our-way-to-groundbreaking-science-stars-turn-neon-green-in",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-20T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/we-are-on-our-way-to-groundbreaking-science-stars-turn-neon-green-in-first-test-image-from-nasas-roman-telescope-space-photo-of-the-week"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope captured its first test image on September 15, 2026, displaying hundreds of stars as green rings of light. The telescope, launched on August 30, is currently midway through its commissioning process in preparation for its journey to the Lagrange point L2. The Wide Field Instrument (WFI), which holds the telescope's camera system, is not yet fully focused, resulting in the stars appearing as lime-colored loops in the test image. Once fully operational, Roman will be able to capture images as crisp as those from the Hubble Space Telescope, but with images that cover 100 times more area. This milestone is a significant step towards groundbreaking scientific discoveries. The telescope is expected to generate around 1.4 terabytes of data daily, equivalent to five to 10 times the storage capacity of an average smartphone. With this vast amount of data, Roman aims to address some of the most profound questions in astronomy, including the expansion of the universe and the search for extraterrestrial life.",
  "summary": "This week, NASA turned on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's powerful 300-megapixel camera for the first time. The debut test image promises \"groundbreaking science\" to come with NASA already talking about doubling the mission's lifespan.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "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."
}