NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch in May 2027, with a mission to explore a pivotal era in the universe's history known as 'cosmic dawn.'

Cosmic dawn occurred between 50 million and 1 billion years after the Big Bang, marking the transition of the universe from an opaque state to a transparent one as the fog of particles cleared.

Prior to cosmic dawn, the universe was filled with free electrons that scattered photons, preventing light from traveling until neutral atoms formed.

This period is crucial as it signifies the birth of the first stars, galaxies, and black holes in the 13.8 billion-year-old universe.

As massive stars collapsed, they produced the first black holes, which merged and contributed to the formation of supermassive black holes.

Supermassive black holes, despite emitting no light, can ionize surrounding materials through their accretion disks and jets of electromagnetic radiation.

Early stars in the universe were significantly more massive than those today, resulting in intense radiation that contributed to the ionization of surrounding space.

Researchers aim to identify which galaxies were responsible for ionizing radiation during cosmic dawn, focusing on the sizes of ionized bubbles created by this radiation.

Roman will study potential sources of ionization, including early galaxies and the environments surrounding the first black holes.

The transition from the cosmic dark ages to cosmic dawn involved the ionization of neutral atoms, a process that remains a subject of ongoing investigation.

Astrophysicist Michelle Thaller noted that Roman's capabilities may help uncover fundamental changes in the universe during this critical time.

Roman's broader field of view will enable it to identify numerous quasars, which are active galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes, during cosmic dawn.