SETI Live: Hide the Star: How Roman Will See Exoplanets - Livestream

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is designed to revolutionize our understanding of the universe, from dark energy to thousands of newly discovered exoplanets. But one of its most exciting instruments is the Coronagraph - a cutting-edge technology that can block the overwhelming glare of distant stars, allowing astronomers to directly observe planets orbiting them.

Joining host Dr. Franck Marchis is Dr. Margaret Turnbull, senior scientist at the SETI Institute and Co-Principal Investigator on Roman's Coronagraph Instrument. She'll explain how this remarkable technology works, what we'll learn from the mission, and why Roman is paving the way toward future telescopes capable of imaging Earth-like worlds.

We'll discuss:

• Why Roman is NASA's next flagship space observatory
• How a coronagraph "creates an artificial eclipse"
• The challenge of directly imaging exoplanets
• What Roman will reveal about giant planets and planetary systems
• How Roman prepares us to search for potentially habitable worlds
• What excites scientists most as launch approaches

Whether you're fascinated by exoplanets, space telescopes, or the search for life beyond Earth, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of NASA's most ambitious missions.