Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2023

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023 F ollowing its launch no later than May 2027, NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will survey the same areas of the sky every few days. Researchers will mine these data to identify kilonovae – explosions that happen when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole collide and merge. When these collisions happen, a fraction of the resulting debris is ejected as jets, which move near the speed of light. The remaining debris produces hot, glowing, neutron-rich clouds that forge heavy elements, like gold and platinum. Roman’s extensive data will help astronomers better identify how often these events occur, how much energy they give off, and how near or far they are. [Artwork: NASA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)]