Introduction to Roman Surveys and Programs
Ranked as the highest scientific priority for a large space-based mission in the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will play a pivotal role in astrophysics in the 2020s and beyond. Roman will survey the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble, collecting near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic data with Hubble-quality resolution and sensitivity over fields of view 200 times greater than Hubble’s WFC3/IR. Roman data will enrich all areas of astrophysics by enabling studies of nearly every class of astronomical object, phenomenon, and environment across the observable universe.
To enable these broad science goals, Roman's Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) observing program will include both Core Community Surveys (CCSs) and General Astrophysics Surveys (GAS). The majority of Roman’s five-year primary mission will be devoted to the CCSs, which include a High Latitude Wide Area survey, a High Latitude Time Domain survey, and a Galactic Bulge Time Domain survey. A minimum of 25% of the five year primary mission will be devoted to General Astrophysics Surveys. All data collected by Roman will be non-proprietary and available to all via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). The Roman mission will release image mosaics, source catalogs, and other data products, and will partner with the astronomical community to create open-source data reduction and analysis tools. Funding will be available through the General Investigator (GI) program for analyzing Roman data. In addition, the Coronagraph Instrument observing program will be performed as part of the Technology Demonstration.
Learn about the various ways to get involved with Roman.
Core Community Surveys
The CCSs are the means through which Roman will meet its cosmology and exoplanet science requirements. They will also enable a broad range of astrophysical investigations. The CCSs were defined through a community process, which included an open call to all science community members to provide information on the science investigations they wish to see enabled by the design of the CCSs. Guided by the content of the community input, a survey definition committee was formed for each of the three CCSs. The committee membership was selected to ensure that the breadth of interests of the scientific community in using Roman’s CCSs was well represented.
The definition committees’ charter charged them with assessing community input, investigating various observational strategies to maximize the science return of the survey, and producing a recommendation for multiple survey options (including a minimal, nominal, and optimal survey definition).
The definition committees delivered reports to the Roman Project summarizing their recommended survey options, including a discussion of the scientific tradeoffs, the time required, and the observational constraints. The reports where reviewed by the Roman Observing Time Allocation Committee (ROTAC), which provided a recommendation on the balance between each of the CCSs, as well as between the CCSs and the General Astrophysics Survey allocation. See the full charter of the Core Community Survey Definition Committees, and read the recommendations of the ROTAC and the three CCS Definition Committees.
Surveys and Charter
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Name Institution Gail Zasowski (Co-Chair) University of Utah Saurabh Jha (Co-Chair) Rutgers University Laura Chomiuk Michigan State University Xiaohui Fan University of Arizona Ryan Hickox Dartmouth College Dan Huber University of Hawaii (Manoa) Eamonn Kerins University of Manchester Chip Kobulnicky University of Wyoming Tod Lauer NOIRLab Masao Sako University of Pennsylvania Alice Shapley UCLA Denise Stephens Brigham Young University David Weinberg The Ohio State University Ben Williams University of Washington -
The High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey (HLWAS) will fulfill the Roman mission’s objectives to investigate the nature of dark energy and dark matter through large-scale measurements of weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering. In addition to these core goals, the survey will enable a broad range of astrophysical investigations. The HLWAS consists of multiple tiers with varying exposure depths and will cover more than 12% of the sky. Read about the HLWAS implementation.
Committee Members
Name Institution Ryan Hickox (Co-Chair) Dartmouth College Risa Wechsler (Co-Chair) Stanford University/Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) Micaela Bagley University of Texas at Austin Keith Bechtol University of Wisconsin-Madison Michael Blanton New York University Chris Hirata Ohio State University Elizabeth Krause University of Arizona Nikhil Padmanabhan Yale University Ismael Tereno Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço L. Y. Aaron Yung Space Telescope Science Institute David Weinberg Ohio State University Anja von der Linden Stony Brook University Rosemary Pike (Solar System Liaisons at large) Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian Susan Benecchi (Solar System Liaisons at large) Planetary Science Institute -
The High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey will achieve the Roman mission’s objective of probing dark energy by detecting and using Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to trace the universe’s expansion history. In addition, the survey will identify and characterize a wide range of time-variable astrophysical sources in the near-infrared. Both the northern and southern fields will be observed on an approximately five-day cadence during the mission’s central two years, producing an expected sample of about 100,000 transient light curves. Read about the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey implementation.
Committee Members
Name Institution Brad Cenko (Co-Chair) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Masao Sako (Co-Chair) University of Pennsylvania Alessandra Corsi Texas Tech University Michael Fasnaugh Texas Tech University Sebastian Gomez Space Telescope Science Institute Rebekah Hounsell University of Maryland, Baltimore County / Goddard Space Flight Center Takashi Moriya National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Gordon Richards Drexel University Russell Ryan Space Telescope Science Institute Schuyler Van Dyk IPAC / Caltech Ashley Villar Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian / Harvard University Rosemary Pike (Solar System Liaisons at large) Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Susan Benecchi (Solar System Liaisons at large) Planetary Science Institute -
The Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey (GBTDS) will fulfill the Roman mission’s objective to determine the distribution and properties of exoplanets in the Milky Way by enabling microlensing detections of small, cold exoplanets. In addition, the survey will provide high-cadence observations that support a wide range of investigations into stellar and Galactic physics. The GBTDS is expected to discover on the order of 100,000 exoplanets through a combination of microlensing and transit detections. Read about the GBTDS implementation.
Committee Members
Name Institution Jessie Christiansen (Co-Chair) NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) / Caltech Daniel Huber (Co-Chair) University of Hawaii / University of Sydney Annalisa Calamida Space Telescope Science Institute Jessica Lu University of California, Berkeley Eduardo Martin Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Benjamin Montet University of New South Wales Kris Pardo University of Southern California Matthew Penny Louisiana State University Hans Walter Rix Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Jennifer Sobeck IPAC Rosemary Pike (Solar System Liaisons at large) Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Susan Benecchi (Solar System Liaisons at large) Planetary Science Institute -
Each of the Core Community Survey committees were assigned the following primary tasks:
- Review existing community science input into the science investigations that could be enabled with the Core Community Survey
- Prioritize the most compelling scientific investigations for driving the survey design
- Analyze the impact of different observational strategies on the scientific return
- Work with representatives from the Science Centers and Roman Project to assess the feasibility of various observational strategies
- Recommend a small number of detailed observational strategies for survey definition for consideration by the Roman Observations Time Allocation Committee
- Define the final survey strategy at the level required for implementation
- Recommend initial survey observations and evaluation metrics to assess whether the survey implementation will meet expectations
- Engage openly and transparently with the science community
In undertaking the above tasks, each committee was to take into account:
- The primary goal of maximizing the science return and legacy value of the survey
- Roman Mission science requirements relevant to the survey
- Potential synergies of the Roman survey with existing or concurrent surveys carried out with other observatories
Coronagraph Instrument Program
A Coronagraph Instrument observing program will be performed as part of the Technology Demonstration. The Coronagraph Community Participation Program, including scientists selected through NASA-ROSES calls for proposals, is the mechanism through which the science community works with the Coronagraph Instrument team to maximize the scientific and technical return of the observing program during the Technology Demonstration Phase. The preliminary program design is expected to paint a new picture for several dozen known planetary systems and disks. Some planets may be targeted for full spectral resolution observations to enable planet characterization.
General Astrophysics Surveys and Data Analysis Programs
As Roman approaches launch and enters operations, additional opportunities to engage with the observatory have begun. Throughout Roman operations, there will be regular calls for General Investigator (GI) Programs. These are anticipated to include yearly opportunities for funding and compute support for analysis of Roman Wide Field Instrument data or public ancillary data directly relevant to Roman science, and theoretical or laboratory astrophysics investigations. Funded GI programs will use the wealth of data in Roman’s archive to perform all manner of astrophysical investigations, including addressing Roman’s cosmology and exoplanet demographic science goals. Calls for Principal Investigator-led General Astrophysics Surveys are anticipated in Cycles 1, 3, and 4. The selection of these programs will be made via a peer review process. The Cycle 1 Call for Proposals opened on December 10, 2025 with a deadline of March 17, 2026.
Not all of Roman’s General Astrophysics Surveys are PI-led. The Roman Project released a Request for Information in 2021 to the science community, asking the community to (a) comment on whether to select an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey, and (b) to outline and submit survey concepts that would demonstrably benefit from selection as an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey. An Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey Assessment Committee composed of community members reviewed the community input and recommended that a survey of the Galactic plane with Roman be defined prior to launch through a community process. The community definition of Roman’s Galactic Plane General Astrophysics Survey proceeded in an analogous manner to that of Roman’s Core Community Surveys, and culminated in the delivery of the Galactic Plane Survey definition committee’s recommended implementation in August of 2025.
Additional Information
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The Galactic Plane Survey will observe a significant fraction of stars in the Milky Way, with an estimated total of about 20 billion sources. The survey will combine wide-field imaging, time-domain observations, and spectroscopy to study stellar populations, Galactic structure, and regions of high extinction across the bulge and disk. Read about the Galactic Plane Survey implementation.
Committee Members
Name Institution Bob Benjamin (Co-Chair) University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Rachel Street (Co-Chair) Las Cumbres Observatory Rachael Beaton STScI Sean Carey Caltech/IPAC Kishalay De MIT Janet Drew University College London Matthew De Furio University of Texas at Austin Thomas Kupfer Universität Hamburg Dante Minniti Universidad Andrés Bello Roberta Paladini Caltech/IPAC Eddie Schlafly STScI Catherine Zucker CfA | Harvard & Smithsonian
Additional Resources
Roman Prefooter
The NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed by NASA/GSFC with participation of STScI, Caltech/IPAC, and NASA/JPL.
Contact the Roman Team
