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 nominal mission will be devoted to General Astrophysics Surveys. These surveys will be defined by a combination of a community-led process and traditional peer-reviewed calls for proposals. 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 mosaics, 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 research using archival data. In addition, the Coronagraph Instrument observing program will be performed as part of the Technology Demonstration.

NASA's Engaging with Roman webpage provides an overview of the process for defining Roman’s surveys and the various ways to get involved with Roman.

The CCSs will be capable of meeting the Roman Mission’s cosmology and exoplanet science requirements while leaving significant parameter space available to establish the observational strategies (filters, depth, cadence, etc.) in a way that will enable a broad range of astrophysical investigations. To assist in the expansion of the science goals via a community-led process, the Roman Mission previously implemented 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 has been 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 committees’ charter charges 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 (such as a minimal, nominal, and optimal survey definition). All members of the science community can continue to get involved in planning for Roman’s observing program prior to launch by participating in the definition of the CSSs through calls for input, engaging deeply with specific topics via ongoing technical working groups, applying for funding for preparatory activities via ROSES, joining the Roman Users Forum, and proposing for observing programs or funding during Roman operations. 

The committees will deliver reports summarizing the recommended survey options, including a discussion of the scientific tradeoffs, the time required, and the observational constraints. The reports will be delivered to a Roman Observing Time Allocation Committee (ROTAC) committee, which will be charged with making a final recommendation to the Roman Mission on the balance between each of the CCSs, as well as between the CCSs and the general astrophysics survey allocation. The CCS definition committees will then be tasked with providing the Roman Science Centers with survey definitions that are sufficiently detailed that the Science Centers can schedule the observations. This process is planned to be completed in March 2025 to provide time for the Science Centers to implement the surveys and the scientific community to prepare for the first Call for Proposals, which is planned to open in Fall 2025. See the full charter of the Core Community Survey Definition Committees.

A Coronagraph Instrument observing program will be performed as part of the Technology Demonstration. An associated Community Participation Program is already underway with the aim of working 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.

As Roman approaches launch and enters operations, additional opportunities to engage with the observatory will begin. Throughout Roman operations, there will be regular calls for Principal Investigator-led GAS, as well as for funded archival programs on both CCSs and GAS. 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. The selection of these programs will be made via a peer review process. The first of these calls is anticipated to be made approximately one year before Roman’s launch, after the definition of the CCSs is complete.