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Manchester astronomer helps lead NASA mission expected to discover more than 100,000 planets

Dr Eamonn Kerins from the University of Manchester is leading exoplanet research within NASA’s Roman Space Telescope mission.

By The TEA Editorial Desk · 28 August 2026

NASA's Roman Space Telescope at its launch site Image: University of Manchester / NASAOriginal source

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A University of Manchester astronomer has taken a leading role in a NASA space-telescope mission expected to discover more than 100,000 planets beyond our solar system.

Dr Eamonn Kerins, from Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, leads an exoplanet working group for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and is also part of a second team using gravitational lensing to find planets further from their stars.

Roman will collect extraordinary volumes of data and combine two planet-detection methods to build a broader picture of planetary systems across the galaxy. The telescope’s field of view is more than 200 times wider than Hubble’s while delivering similarly sharp images.

After years of preparation, Manchester expertise will be embedded in a mission trying to answer a fairly enormous question: just how common are other worlds?