The Conversation

Hawaiʻi Skies: Saturn sighting and the Roman Space Telescope

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Kevin Allen

Published September 17, 2026 at 1:11 PM HST

This image provided by NASA shows a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the space observatory Roman Telescope launching at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.

Hawaiʻi Skies is back for September with sights to see, exciting astronomical discoveries and free astronomical events for the public to enjoy.

To learn more, HPR spoke with Roy Gal, astronomer and outreach coordinator at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy.

For those looking out for upcoming celestial sightings, Gal shared that Saturn and Neptune will be visible next to the full moon later this month.

Just before September, NASA also launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope — or known to astronomers simply as “Roman.” Originally built to be a surveillance satellite, it was later repurposed by NASA to survey the skies, Gal explained.

This photo provided by NASA shows technicians connecting the inner and outer segments of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Nov. 25, 2025, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

And from the sensors that were built at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy in Hilo to the UH astronomers who set the goals for its launch, it’s got plenty of connections to Hawaiʻi.

Later in the fall, members of the public can visit the Institute for Astronomy in Mānoa on Oct. 18th for the 25th Annual Astronaut Lacy Veach Day, a free event dedicated to honoring an astronaut from Hawaiʻi.

More information about the 2026 Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery can be found here.

This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 17, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.