One of the brightest stars in the night sky seems to be orbited by a planet like Jupiter. The news is sure to cheer fans of the Avatar series, which centers on a moon that orbits a fictional gas giant ...

Nation & World News NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter’s moon in search of right conditions for life Published: Oct. 14, 2024, 1:54 p.m.

One of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, Europa is almost the size of our own moon. It’s encased in an ice sheet estimated to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometers to 24 kilometers) thick.

Europa is considered one of the best candidates in the solar system to support life as we know it. It’s about the same size as Earth’s moon and encased in a 10-mile thick sheet of ice.