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| Paper: |
Roman as a Pathfinder to Search for Life with HWO |
| Monograph: |
11, HWO25 Proceedings Part II: Mission Framework, Technology, and Broader Contributions |
| Page: |
13 |
| Authors: |
Laurent Pueyo, Bruce Macintosh, and Iva Laginja |
| DOI: |
10.26624/AHUT3396 |
| Abstract: |
The Roman Space Telescope will demonstrate key technologies for exoplanet imaging, essential ingredients needed for searching for Earth-like worlds with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). Among other features, it will be the first space telescope to fly a Deformable Mirror–assisted coronagraph with active wavefront sensing, modern coronagraphic masks, and zero-noise detectors. At spatial scales comparable to the outer Solar System, the Roman coronagraph will achieve contrast levels 100 to 1,000 times deeper than those obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. These capabilities will demonstrate scientific operations with cutting edge technologies. They will also be invaluable to advance the scientific maturation of the search for life experiment HWO will conduct in a decade. Meanwhile, Roman's primary science capability, the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), will yield key exoplanet demographics results that will place the Habitable Zone rocky planets detected with HWO in a broader astrophysical context. This paper summarizes the discussions of a panel of experts convened at the HWO 2025 conference to comment on these various topics. |
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