NASA's Europa Clipper captured this image of the star field—and the planet Uranus—on November 5, 2025, while experimenting with one of two stellar reference units. These star tracking cameras are used to maintain the orientation of the spacecraft. In the camera's field of view, which represents 0.1% of the entire sky around the spacecraft, Uranus appears as a larger dot on the left side of the image.
At the time the images were taken, Europa Clipper was approximately 2 billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Uranus. The spacecraft is currently on its way to the Jupiter system to study the icy moon Europa.
Europa Clipper launched in October 2024 and will arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030 to make about 50 flybys of Europa. The main scientific goal of the mission is to determine whether there are places beneath Europa's surface that could support life. The mission's three main scientific goals are to determine the thickness of the Moon's icy shell and the interaction of its surface with the ocean beneath it, investigate its composition, and characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential of habitable worlds beyond our planet.
For more information about Europa and the Europa Clipper, follow the link: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/
