NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will use gravity as a magnifying glass to find distant planets

Massive objects bend light, which results in a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. NASA/STScI

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on Aug. 30, 2026, beginning a journey that will take it about a million miles from the Earth. Once there, Roman will study some of the biggest mysteries in astronomy, from dark energy to the formation of galaxies. It will also search for planets around other stars, called exoplanets, but in a rather unusual way.

Roman will be able to find many of these exotic worlds without seeing the planets themselves. Instead, it will watch for distant stars that temporarily become brighter.