NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is entering its final design stage before construction and testing of the spacecraft and the scientific instruments it will carry to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. “We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world,” said…

Researchers have found dust from an exploded star, or supernova, in snow from Antarctica, according to a study published this month. The discovery could provide lessons about the solar system’s history and place in its surrounding environment, the study, published August 12 in the Physical Review Letters, said. A supernova occurs when a star explodes…

Last year, a nearby rocky world was spotted by NASA’s planet-hunting telescope TESS. Now, astronomers have been able to observe the planet using the Spitzer Space Telescope, taking a closer look at this intriguing world. The planet, called LHS 3884b, is 49 light-years away in the Indus constellation, orbiting a cool M-dwarf star that’s only…

In regions of the United States and Mexico that are prone to hurricanes, aggressive spiders are evolving to survive and ride out the storm. When hurricanes rage along the Gulf of Mexico or charge up the East Coast, they can reshape an entire habitat in a short time. The winds destroy trees and spread debris…

ISIS suspect Jack Letts has been stripped of his British citizenship, according to Canadian officials. Letts was a British-Canadian national who converted to Islam and fled his home in Oxford in 2014 to allegedly join the terrorist organization in its self-declared capital, Raqqa. He also is believed to have married an ISIS bride in Iraq.…

Last month, an American mother named Bethany Vierra lost custody of her young daughter Zaina, on the grounds that she was too Western to raise the child well. Now her own parents worry that they will lose both grand-daughter and daughter, as the window to appeal closes in Saudi Arabia. “If Zaina can’t leave, she…

When it comes to brightness, it’s hard to outshine the sun. But in new NASA images, the moon sparkles brighter thanks to a telescope that can detect high-energy radiation. NASA’s Fermi space telescope allows us to see high-energy radiation called gamma rays, which make the moon appear to have an intense glow because of its…

The explosions of stars are some of the most stunning and powerful phenomena seen in the universe. But a recently observed supernova clashes with the models for the death of massive stars. In November 2016, the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite spotted something intriguing. Astronomers used follow-up observations over the past three years in an…

Earth faced unprecedented heat in July, its hottest month on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July’s temperature across land and ocean surfaces worldwide was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average of 60.4. It was the highest for July since records began in 1880, besting the record set in 2016 by…

When Jupiter was still forming 4.5 billion years ago, something giant likely crashed into the planet and disrupted the process, according to a new study. NASA’s Juno spacecraft began orbiting Jupiter in July 2016. In addition to capturing stunning imagery of the gas giant, Juno has also uncovered surprising insight that only creates more questions.…