Nasa launches new telescope to map cosmos

NASA launched its new flagship space telescope on Sunday, sending the Roman Space Telescope into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Dawn reports the observatory will map the cosmos with a field of view more than a hundred times larger than Hubble's, aiming to uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. Named after astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, the 'Mother of Hubble,' Roman will also hunt for thousands of exoplanets and tens of thousands of supernovae. With its infrared vision, it will look billions of years into the past, complementing other observatories like Webb and Euclid.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton