Defining a Roman Galactic Plane Survey: Call for Community Input and Self-Nominations
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument’s observing program will include both Core Community Surveys, defined by a community-led process, and General Astrophysics Surveys, for which a minimum of 25% of Roman’s observing time will be reserved in the first five years and which will primarily be selected via traditional peer-reviewed calls for proposals. In 2021 the Roman Project released a Request for Information to the science community to solicit comments on (a) whether to select an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey, and (b) to outline and submit survey concepts that would demonstrably benefit from selection as an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey. Twenty complete submissions were received with over 340 unique authors. A review of these submissions has been completed by an Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey Assessment Committee.
The committee found that there was sufficient justification to define an Early-Definition General Astrophysics Survey through a community-led process. The top-ranked concept was a survey of the Galactic plane. Accordingly, a community-defined Roman Galactic Plane General Astrophysics Survey, of up to approximately 700 hours, will be defined by a committee of community members utilizing community input in an analogous method to the definition of Roman's Core Community Surveys by the Core Community Survey definition committees. There are no mission level science requirements on a Roman Galactic Plane Survey, leaving the full parameter space available to define the observational strategies (filters, depth, cadence, etc.) in a way that will enable a broad range of astrophysical investigations with Roman data of the Galactic Plane.
Now that a Galactic Plane General Astrophysics Survey has been selected for early definition, we are seeking broader input into the range of science investigations the community would like to see enabled by this survey. We are thus requesting (a) community input into the definition of the Galactic Plane Survey in the form of either short science pitches or more detailed white papers, requested by May 20, 2024; and (b) self-nominations to serve on the definition committee for the Galactic Plane Survey, requested also by May 20, 2024. For context on how this call relates to previous calls, please see the FAQ section below.
Call for Community Input into the Definition of a Roman Galactic Plane Survey
Roman's Wide Field Instrument (WFI) will have a large field of view (0.28 sq deg), Hubble-like sensitivity and resolution, and highly efficient survey operations, enabling survey speeds roughly 1000 times faster than achieved with Hubble. The WFI includes a suite of broad-band filters spanning 0.48 to 2.0 microns, as well as a prism and grism to enable slitless spectroscopy over the full field of view.
The Roman Space Telescope team is intent on engaging the broad astronomical community in defining the Galactic Plane Survey in a way that will maximize its scientific impact. The reason for soliciting community input at this stage is to compile a set of unique scientific investigations that can be achieved with a Roman Galactic Plane Survey, the observational strategies that will enable these investigations to be performed, and the metrics or figures of merit that can be used to assess whether an observational strategy will enable a particular investigation.
The science pitch option is intended to provide those with limited time, or a kernel of an idea, with a means to convey that information to the committee that will define the survey. This option aims to capture, from a large cross-section of the community, the full breadth of science investigations possible with a Roman Galactic Plane Survey, as well as high level information on what aspects of survey design are most important for these investigations. Science pitches are intended to be short, one to two paragraph descriptions describing science investigations that could be enabled by the Galactic Plane Survey. Each pitch should briefly describe the science investigation, motivate its importance in addressing open questions in its field, and describe how the capabilities of a Roman Galactic Plane Survey will uniquely enable the investigation. Along with the science pitch, respondents are requested to provide high-level input on the importance of various observational strategy choices (e.g. survey area, location, depth, and cadence) for the success of the science investigation by completing a short questionnaire.
White papers describing in more detail science investigations that could be enabled by the Galactic Plane Survey are also being requested at this time (for context on how this call relates to previous white paper calls, please see the FAQs below). White papers will provide the Roman Mission, the definition committee, and the astronomical community with a detailed understanding of the observational strategy space over which trades will need to be considered and consensus built. Accordingly, white papers should include discussion of each of the following four elements: (1) the importance of the science investigation with respect to addressing open questions in its field, (2) how the capabilities of a Roman Galactic Plane Survey will uniquely enable the investigation, (3) the minimal and optimal observational strategies for enabling the science investigation, and (4) the impact of different observational strategy choices on the science investigation, ideally expressed via appropriate metrics or figures of merit that the community survey committees can readily utilize.
All input from the community will be passed to the committee to be charged with defining the Galactic Plane Survey, and will form the foundation on which the committee begins their work. This initial community input, in the form of science pitches and white papers, will be used by the definition committee to:
- identify the most promising synergies amongst various science drivers,
- determine where additional investigative work is needed (e.g., to define appropriate metrics for a science investigation or determine if a science investigation is feasible within constraints),
- discover areas where community consensus-building is needed (e.g., where there are significant discrepancies in strategy for similar science investigations),
- target additional requests for community input, and
- inform the programs and agendas for later follow-up community engagement on the Galactic Plane Survey definition.
The science pitches will provide the definition committee with high level context of the breadth of science the community wishes to perform. The white papers will provide a quantitative basis for the committees to begin exploring the impact on the overall science return of various trades in observational strategy for each CCS. The process of defining the implementation of the Galactic Plane Survey will involve continued community input.
Call for Self-Nominations for the Galactic Plane Survey Definition Committee
The Roman Space Telescope team is requesting self-nominations for membership on the committee that will define the Galactic Plane Survey. The work of crafting an observational strategy for the Galactic Plane Survey that maximizes its overall science return will be undertaken by a definition committee composed of ~ 8 to 15 members of the astronomical community who represent both the breadth of science the community wants to see enabled with the Galactic Plane Survey, and the diversity of the astronomers who will ultimately use Roman’s datasets. The survey committee is expected to be active for approximately 2.5 to 3 years, with the bulk of the effort occurring in the first ~12 months.
The survey committee will be charged with understanding and representing the full breadth of the astronomy community’s interests in Roman’s Galactic Plane Survey. This will require evaluating community input, including the requested science pitches and white papers, and soliciting additional, more targeted community input through a variety of channels. The survey committee will craft potential survey implementations and evaluate them against science metrics, optimizing the observational strategy in order to maximize the science return from the survey. The work of the committee will be analogous to that described for the Core Community Survey definition committees, albeit without the need to meet any specific mission requirements.
This call for self-nominations is the first step in forming the Galactic Plane Survey definition committee. The full committee membership will be drawn from various sources, including but not limited to self-nominations.
Self-nominations should consist of a short-form CV (approximately one to two pages) and a cover letter and should:
- Explain your motivation for serving.
- Detail the contributions you plan to make to the committee and provide an estimate of the level of effort you could devote to the work of the committee.
- Highlight your scientific, technical, or community-building experience relevant to the work of defining the survey.
Submissions
Submit your science pitch here. Science pitches are requested by May 20, 2024.
White papers should be submitted as PDF files to roman-surveys@lists.nasa.gov with the subject line Galactic Plane White Paper. White papers are requested by May 20, 2024. Please include a cover page listing the title of the white paper, the name, affiliation, and contact information of the submitting author, a list of contributing authors with affiliation and contact information, any relevant scientific categories from the below list, and any additional scientific keywords. A Word template is provided here for convenience and as an example of what to provide in the cover page, but is not required to be used.
- Scientific Categories: solar system astronomy; exoplanets and exoplanet formation; stellar physics and stellar types; stellar populations; the interstellar medium; the intergalactic medium and the circumgalactic medium
Please send self-nominations to serve on the Galactic Plane Survey definition committee by May 20, 2024 as a PDF attachment to roman-surveys@lists.nasa.gov with the subject line Galactic Plane Definition Committee. While self-nominations will be considered until the committees are formed, ones received by this date will receive full consideration.
For specific questions related to a submission, please email roman-help@bigbang.gsfc.nasa.gov with the subject line: “Roman Galactic Plane Survey.” This will send your question simultaneously to the help desks of both Roman Science Centers (help@stsci.edu and roman-help@ipac.caltech.edu).
Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from previous Roman white paper calls and requests for community input?
The 2023 Roman calls for science pitches, white papers, and self-nominations were focused on Roman’s three Core Community Surveys. These were aimed specifically at obtaining broad community input into their definition and maximizing the science that can be accomplished with Roman’s Core Community Surveys.
The 2021 Roman white paper call for Early-Definition Astrophysics Surveys solicited comments on whether to pre-select and define a General Astrophysics Survey early, as well as outlines of survey concepts which would benefit from being selected and defined well before Roman's launch (e.g., to enable synergistic observations with other facilities). This resulted in a recommendation by the Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey Assessment Committee to undertake a community process to define a General Astrophysics Survey of the Galactic plane well before Roman’s launch. White papers submitted in response to the Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey call provided a compelling vision of the science that could be done with a Roman Galactic Plane Survey, and these will be provided to the committee chosen to define the survey.
We are now soliciting broader community input into the definition of a Roman Galactic Plane Survey, in a manner analogous to that undertaken for Roman’s three Core Community Surveys. We anticipate that there are additional science investigations the community will want to undertake with the Galactic Plane Survey, beyond those included in the Early-Definition white papers. In addition, this current call provides an opportunity for providing the survey definition committee with more detailed and focused input into the observational strategies that will be important to enable specific science investigations with the Galactic Plane Survey, and figures of merit or metrics to assess different observational strategies. A broader view of the possible science investigations that could be enabled, as well as details of the observational strategies that will enable them, will be critical information for informing trades between different possible survey implementations.
I have a science case I want to contribute but don’t have time to write a white paper by the deadline. What should I do?
Submit a science pitch! The science pitches are meant to provide a low-barrier way to communicate the science you are interested in pursuing with the Roman Galactic Plane Survey to the committee defining the survey. The associated questionnaire will enable you to provide information on the observational strategies that will enable your science at a level of detail of your choosing.
I’m writing a white paper. Should I provide a complete survey description that will best meet the needs of my science case?
The white paper portion of this call is intended to provide the committees tasked with defining the survey a quantitative starting point for crafting a survey that will maximize the science the community can perform. To that end, collecting a large number of unique survey descriptions that each support one to a few science cases is not particularly helpful. Rather, the committee needs to understand the range of observational strategies that will enable a given science case (e.g., the science can be achieved with imaging in 3 filters, as long as the set of 3 filters is one from a provided list), and the impact of trades in observation strategy on a given science case (e.g., reducing the area by X% will decrease the number of objects of interest by Y%; an area less than Z% will yield too few objects of interest to place any meaningful constraints on their demographics). This information will enable the committees to identify observational strategies for the Galactic Plane Survey that will enable the broadest range of compelling science cases possible.
For white papers, you ask for metrics or figures of merit, but my science case doesn’t have, or doesn’t lend itself to, easily quantifiable metrics or figures of merit. What should I do?
We acknowledge that not all compelling science cases lend themselves to easily quantifiable metrics or figures of merit. Note that metrics do not have to be complicated to be useful in this context. For example, including something as simple as ‘we expect the number of objects of interest to scale approximately linearly with the survey area’ still gives the committee a concrete understanding of the impact of reducing or increasing the survey area on your science case.
I’m interested in self-nominating to serve on the survey definition committee. Who are you looking for and what is the expected time commitment?
The survey definition committee should reflect the breadth of science enabled by the Roman Galactic Plane Survey, as well as the diversity of the astronomical community who will utilize Roman’s data (including across career stage, institution, position type, and demographic groups). If you have relevant expertise for helping to define the Galactic Plane Survey and the capacity to serve on the committee, please consider self-nominating.
There will be significant work involved in defining this survey over approximately the next year. Committee members should anticipate attending regular meetings (primarily, but not exclusively, virtual), supporting one or more community workshops, and performing some work outside of meetings. However, the nature of that work, and the time invested, could vary significantly by individual. There is no minimum time commitment requirement for self-nominations. Therefore, if you have relevant expertise, we encourage you to consider self-nomination regardless of the amount of time you can commit.
