A Path to an All-Sky Survey with Roman

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Authors: Jiwon Jesse Han, Anirudh Chiti, Kai-Feng Chen, K. Bechtol, Andrea Bellini, Robert Benjamin, Adam S. Bolton, Ana Bonaca, Alex Broughton, Esra Bülbül, Susan E. Clark, Charlie Conroy
+84 more Suchetha Cooray, John Franklin Crenshaw, Tansu Daylan, Arjun Dey, A. Drlica-Wagner, T. F. Eifler, Kareem El-Badry, Richard M. Feder, P. S. Ferguson, Shenming Fu, Sebastian Gomez, Ryan C. Hickox, Christopher M. Hirata, Easton J. Honaker, Xiaosheng Huang, Alexander P. Ji, Michael Liu, Kevin McKinnon, Geoffrey Mo, Burçı̇n Mutlu-Pakdı̇l, Adrian Price-Whelan, Alessandro Savino, David J. Schlegel, Nora Shipp, Jay Strader, F. Tarsitano, Adrien C. R. Thob, Kim‐Vy Tran, Roeland P. van der Marel, Feige Wang, Risa H. Wechsler, Daniel R. Weisz, Dennis Zaritsky, Tianqing Zhang, Shreya Anand, Amirnezam Amiri, Abhijeet Anand, Matthew L N Ashby, Finian Ashmead, Leandro Beraldo e. Silva, Aliza G. Beverage, Michael Rogers Blanton, Warren R. Brown, Anthony G. A. Brown, Priyanka Chakraborty, Yi-Kuan Chiang, Jose Maria Diego, Denis Erkal, Simone Ferraro, Lluís Galbany, Marla Geha, Oleg Y. Gnedin, Lars Hernquist, J. R. Hunt, Valentin D. Ivanov, V. M. Kalari, Nitya Kallivayalil, András Kovács, Kyle Kremer, Ting-Wen Lan, Denis Alan Leahy, Jiaxuan Li, Ivan Minchev, GyuChul Myung, Ethan O. Nadler, Joan Najita, Melissa Ness, Jacob Nibauer, Fabio Pacucci, David Parkinson, Ekta Patel, R. Michael Rich, M. Ricci, Graziano Rossi, Nikolina Sarcevic, Arnab Sarkar, Andrew K. Saydjari, Arman Shafieloo, Zachary S. Slepian, Sangmo Tony Sohn, David N. Spergel, Róbert Szabó, Christina C. Williams, John F. Wu
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Abstract

A deep, space-based, all-sky near-infrared survey carried out with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope would constitute a foundational astronomical infrastructure for decades to come. In this white paper, we present a concrete and feasible path to imaging the entire sky at $\sim0.1''$ resolution, beginning with high-impact fields in Cycle 1 and scaling to ultra-wide coverage within the nominal mission. This first-epoch survey will reach $\mathrm{H}\sim25.5$ AB mag (5$σ$) and maximize synergies with contemporaneous observatories, while preserving substantial time for other ambitious Roman programs. We outline representative scheduling scenarios and an example Cycle 1 program that triples early Roman-LSST overlap and delivers high-value community data products such as LSST forced photometry, joint \textit{Gaia}-Roman astrometry, and catalogs of Galactic substructure, stong lenses, and other rare systems. The Cycle 1 program will lay the foundation for an eventual all-sky survey, while also delivering high-impact early science. We invite broad community participation in shaping and carrying out both the initial program and the long-term vision of an all-sky Roman survey.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Stellar planetary and galactic studies Galaxies: Formation Evolution Phenomena

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
24 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint