A Path to an All-Sky Survey with Roman

A Path to an All-Sky Survey with Roman

Journal not recorded · Published 2026-01-01

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

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Original 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. Comments are welcome and encouraged