Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
NASA has a new space telescope. It is called Roman. It is very new.
A part of Roman looked at the sky for the first time. It saw a star in a big group of stars near us.
Roman can stay very, very still. This is important. It helps the telescope look for planets far away.
- telescope
- a tool for seeing far away things
- planet
- a big round object that goes around a star
- star
- a bright light in the night sky
- still
- not moving
- sky
- the space above the Earth
- new
- made not long ago
- far
- not near
- first
- before all others
Level 2 — Elementary
NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has taken an important step. On September 22, its Coronagraph Instrument opened to cosmic light for the first time.
The first picture shows a faint star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy near our own. The picture is noisy, but it proves that the instrument works.
Engineers also tested how steady the telescope is. It can stay pointed at one spot with an error smaller than one hundred thousandth of a degree. That is like aiming a laser at a small coin from about 150 miles away.
- coronagraph
- a tool that blocks starlight so dim planets can be seen
- instrument
- a scientific tool
- faint
- very weak and hard to see
- galaxy
- a huge group of stars
- noisy
- full of random spots or signals
- steady
- not moving or shaking
- engineer
- a person who designs and tests machines
- coin
- a small round piece of metal money
Level 3 — Intermediate
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has passed a milestone. On September 22, its Coronagraph Instrument opened to cosmic light for the first time and captured a frame showing a single faint star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The image is full of noise, but it confirms that the instrument can produce focused pictures.
A coronagraph is designed to block the glare of a star so that much dimmer objects beside it, such as planets, can be seen. That makes stability vital. Even tiny vibrations or pointing errors would let unwanted starlight leak into the image and drown out any planet.
Recent tests show the observatory is up to the task. It can hold its aim steady to better than one hundred thousandth of a degree, for half an hour at a time during wide field observations and for eight hours at a time with the coronagraph. NASA's comparison is aiming a laser at a dime from about 150 miles away. The harder test, finding real exoplanets, is still to come.
- milestone
- an important stage in a project
- satellite galaxy
- a small galaxy that orbits a larger one
- glare
- strong, dazzling light
- vital
- extremely important
- vibration
- a small, rapid shaking movement
- drown out
- to make something impossible to notice
- observatory
- a place or instrument for studying the sky
- exoplanet
- a planet outside our solar system
Level 4 — Advanced
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has cleared a significant milestone. On September 22, its Coronagraph Instrument opened to cosmic light for the first time, capturing a frame of a single faint star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The image is grainy, yet it demonstrates that the instrument forms focused pictures.
The coronagraph exists to suppress the blinding glare of a star so that the far dimmer light of orbiting planets can emerge. That purpose makes pointing stability not a refinement but a prerequisite: the slightest tremor or drift would let stray starlight seep into the image and swamp the faint signals researchers hope to detect.
By that measure, early results are encouraging. Guidance tests show the observatory can hold its aim to better than one hundred thousandth of a degree, for half an hour at a time during Wide Field Instrument observations and for as long as eight hours during coronagraph work, helped by the instrument's own internal stabilisation. NASA likens that precision to aiming a laser at a dime from roughly 150 miles away. Yet seeing a bright star is a rehearsal; the decisive examination, directly imaging a genuine exoplanet, lies ahead.
- milestone
- a significant stage in a project
- grainy
- having a rough, speckled quality
- suppress
- to prevent or reduce
- prerequisite
- something required before something else can happen
- tremor
- a small, involuntary shaking
- swamp
- to overwhelm
- likens
- compares
- decisive
- settling a result beyond doubt
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