Roman telescope to spot distant black holes shredding stars after Aug. 30 launch
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NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to launch Aug. 30, 2026, will detect supermassive black holes that existed up to 11 billion years ago. The telescope will observe tidal disruption events — stars torn apart by black holes — to study how these cosmic giants form and grow.
Detection Method
The Roman telescope will identify black holes by spotting tidal disruption events (TDEs), where a star passes too close to a black hole and is shredded by its gravity. These events produce bright flares that Roman's wide-field instrument can detect across vast distances. Researchers estimate Roman will find hundreds of TDEs annually, far more than current observatories.
Scientific Goals
Studying TDEs will help scientists understand how supermassive black holes at galaxy centers form and evolve. The telescope will probe black holes from the early universe, up to 11 billion years ago, when galaxies were still forming. This data could reveal the seeds of supermassive black holes and their role in galaxy evolution.
What's Next
The Roman Space Telescope is set to launch on Aug. 30, 2026, from Cape Canaveral. It remains unclear how many TDEs the telescope will detect in its first year, as its sensitivity to distant events depends on the actual performance of its instruments.
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Roman telescope to spot distant black holes shredding stars after Aug. 30 launch
