Jupiter’s moon Europa has an ice shell about 18 miles thick — and that could be bad news for alien life

Using data gathered by NASA’s Juno Jupiter orbiter, scientists estimate that Europa’s ice shell is about 18 miles thick — which could make it hard for nutrients to get down to its buried ocean.

Satellite sees river flow across the globe | Space photo of the day for Jan. 29, 2025

Along with this stunning image is the first-ever global estimate of river water discharge and overall sediment suspension.

NASA exoplanet probe tracks interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to gauge its spin

The interstellar visitor may still have a few things to tell us before it leaves our solar system.

How Earth’s atmosphere and climate come together to create a polar vortex

To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex.

From Pluto to Ceres: A dwarf planet word search

Hunt for the names of mysterious dwarf planets, most of which orbit on the fringes of our solar system

Venus may get a huge meteor shower this July, thanks to a long-ago asteroid breakup

This coming July, Venus could plow through the dust generated by an asteroid breakup thousands of years ago, potentially sparking an impressive meteor shower.

Magnetic avalanches on the sun reveal the hidden engine powering solar flares

“This is one of the most exciting results from Solar Orbiter so far.”

Moon landings could contaminate evidence about life’s beginnings on Earth. Here’s how

Exhaust from lunar landers drifts across the moon and contaminates ultra-cold polar craters that are rich in ancient ice and organic clues, a new study reports.

A colossal asteroid may have warped the moon from the inside out

The findings are a big clue as to why the far and near hemispheres of the moon look so different.