NASA’s newest space telescope could spend nearly the next two dozen years changing what we know about the universe, from the mysteries of dark matter to the search for worlds beyond our solar system.

At Western Nevada College, where students study the night sky through the telescopes of the Jack C. Davis Observatory, those discoveries offer a direct connection between what is being learned in the classroom and one of the most ambitious astronomy missions in the world.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Aug. 30 and is traveling toward its observing position about 1 million miles from Earth. NASA announced Sept. 14 that an exceptionally precise launch and early course correction conserved so much fuel that Roman could have enough for at least 22 years of potential science operations.

Roman was designed around a five-year primary mission, with another five years originally anticipated for an extended mission. The possibility of more than two decades of observations greatly expands its potential for discovery.

For WNC Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Thomas Herring, who directs the Jack C. Davis Observatory, Roman represents something equally important: the progression of space science.

“I think perhaps the biggest success of the Roman telescope is that it builds so obviously from the success of the Hubble and Webb telescopes,” Dr. Herring said. “We’re not just throwing the latest, greatest telescopes into space. We’re learning and designing new instruments with purpose.”

Roman was built to investigate some enormous unknowns.

Everything people can see, from stars and planets to galaxies and ourselves, represents only about 5 percent of the universe. Scientists believe the rest consists largely of dark matter and dark energy, yet they still do not know what either one actually is.

Dark matter cannot be seen because it does not interact with light. Scientists know it exists because of the gravitational effects it has on visible matter and light around it. Roman will measure tiny distortions in the appearance of hundreds of millions of distant galaxies caused by that gravity, allowing scientists to create detailed maps of otherwise invisible dark matter.

Those maps could provide clues about what dark matter is made of and how it influenced the formation of galaxies. Roman will also study dark energy, the still-unexplained phenomenon associated with the accelerating expansion of the universe, helping scientists better understand how the universe has changed over billions of years.

Then there is another question that has fascinated people for generations: Are we alone?

Roman is expected to discover tens of thousands of planets beyond our solar system, dramatically expanding scientists’ understanding of planetary systems throughout the Milky Way. Its Coronagraph Instrument will demonstrate technology that blocks the overwhelming glare of a star so much fainter planets orbiting it can be directly observed.

Roman itself is not designed to search Earth-like planets for signs of life, but the technology it demonstrates could help pave the way for future telescopes capable of studying potentially habitable worlds and searching their atmospheres for possible signs of life.

Roman’s 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument will produce images with sharpness comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope while capturing a field of view at least 100 times larger. NASA says Roman will be able to survey the universe up to 1,000 times faster than Hubble.

The result will be an extraordinary amount of information. NASA expects Roman to transmit about 1.4 terabytes of data to Earth every day. In just one month, Roman could produce roughly twice the volume of data Hubble accumulated over its first 30 years.

“For astronomers, having this much information changes the kinds of questions we can ask,” Dr. Herring said. “When you have that much data, patterns and unusual objects can emerge that we simply couldn’t see before.”

For Dr. Herring and WNC, the connection to NASA astronomy is not new. In 2022, Dr. Herring was selected as a NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador and later flew aboard SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. He brought that experience back to WNC students and the community, just as he has used the Jack C. Davis Observatory to help the public understand discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope and other major developments in astronomy.

JCDO gives WNC students something relatively unusual: access to an observatory on their own college campus where concepts taught in astronomy and physics can be connected to actual observations of the night sky. The observatory also serves the broader Western Nevada community through public programs and star parties.

Roman could add an entirely new dimension to that experience.

Its data will have no proprietary period, meaning observations will be available to the broader scientific community. As Roman begins producing an unprecedented volume of information, WNC students could potentially explore the same data being examined by professional astronomers at major universities and research institutions around the world.

“At our Jack C. Davis Observatory, WNC students have the opportunity to explore the universe right here in Western Nevada while connecting what they learn to discoveries happening around the world,” WNC President Dr. J. Kyle Dalpe said.

For Dr. Herring, that connection should extend beyond students enrolled in astronomy courses.

“As for what it means at the JCDO, it makes our work of helping the public meaningfully engage with cutting-edge science even more important,” Dr. Herring said. “Seeing a cool picture online is great, but knowing how it was made and what it might mean is something that is accessible to most people. Astronomy education will need to reach everyone, not just students who register for classes.”

That next chapter is already beginning. NASA announced Sept. 15 that engineers activated Roman’s Wide Field Instrument and received its first photons of starlight. The telescope is expected to reach its observing position around early December, with its first science images anticipated in early 2027.

For WNC, Roman brings discoveries happening nearly a million miles away back to the classroom, the observatory and a community fortunate enough to live beneath some of the West’s darkest skies. And for students beginning their education today, the data Roman produces could help shape the astronomy they study for decades to come.