WhyCosmo

  In an incredible discovery, NASA's Juno spacecraft has captured an astonishing image of Jupiter's moon, Europa , showcasing apparent movement in its icy crust. This extraordinary sighting has sent ripples through the scientific community, sparking curiosity and excitement about what lies beneath Europa's frozen exterior. Europa's icy shell appears to be moving.   (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI) What is it?: Europa, Jupiter's fourth-largest moon. Location: About 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers) from Jupiter and 500 million miles (805 million km) from the sun. It was shared on May 19, 2024. Why it's so special: Slightly smaller than Earth's moon, Europa exhibits characteristics more akin to a planet. It boasts a magnetic field, a tenuous oxygen atmosphere, and a liquid iron core. Beneath its 11-mile (18 km) thick icy shell lies a vast salty ocean, making Europa a leading contender in discovering extraterrestrial life. Recent imagery from Juno, ...

 Auroras (the northern and southern lights) are visible from the ground after powerful solar storms, but these natural light shows look even more majestic from above. Here are 24 spectacular photos of auroras taken from space. 1. View of the Southern Lights from Challenger  A green aurora slices through the Southern Hemisphere between Antarctica and Australia. This vintage shot of the southern lights was captured in April 1985 by astronaut Robert F. Overmyer aboard the space shuttle Challenger. (Image credit: NASA / Robert F. Overmyer) 2. Aurora over Moscow The northern lights swoop beneath a full moon as Moscow glows like a golden spider on the left of the frame. This photo was taken in April 2014 by an Expedition 39 crewmember aboard the International Space Station (ISS). (Image credit: NASA / Rick Mastracchio) 3. A World-Eating Serpent A vivid-green, nearly round aurora curls over the Southern Hemisphere like an enormous serpent. This exquisite photo was taken with NASA's I...