coreyspowell, 24 days ago NASA's upcoming Roman Space Telescope will revolutionize the search for Earth-size rogue planets. After it launches in 2027, Roman could find hundreds of them -- seen only from their gravity, not their light. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/new-study-reveals-nasas-roman-could-find-400-earth-mass-rogue-planets/ #NASA #space #science #tech This animation illustrates the concept of gravitational microlensing with a rogue planet — a planet that does not orbit a star. When the rogue planet appears to pass nearly in front of a background source star, the light rays of the source star bend due to the warped space-time around it. This slightly changes the star’s apparent position on the sky, and can even produce multiple copies of it. Such changes signal the planet’s presence to astronomers. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab
NASA's upcoming Roman Space Telescope will revolutionize the search for Earth-size rogue planets.
After it launches in 2027, Roman could find hundreds of them -- seen only from their gravity, not their light.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/new-study-reveals-nasas-roman-could-find-400-earth-mass-rogue-planets/ #NASA #space #science #tech
This animation illustrates the concept of gravitational microlensing with a rogue planet — a planet that does not orbit a star. When the rogue planet appears to pass nearly in front of a background source star, the light rays of the source star bend due to the warped space-time around it. This slightly changes the star’s apparent position on the sky, and can even produce multiple copies of it. Such changes signal the planet’s presence to astronomers. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab