Roman Space Telescope's active coronagraph: shape-shifting mirrors promise direct imaging of Jupiter analogs

A detailed article explains Roman's coronagraph technology—deformable mirrors, silicon grass, 10 picometer precision—offering 1000x sensitivity improvement over current coronagraphs. This will enable direct imaging of Jupiter-like exoplanets and is a critical step toward future Earth 2.0 searches. Roman launches August 30, 2026.