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Europa Clipper Captures Uranus With Star Tracker Camera

By Eric November 24, 2025

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has recently made headlines by capturing an image of Uranus using its star tracker camera on November 5, 2025. This remarkable feat occurred while the spacecraft was approximately 2 billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) away from the planet, showcasing the advanced capabilities of the star-tracking technology employed by the mission. The image, which represents just 0.1% of the sky around the spacecraft, reveals Uranus as a distinct dot on the left side of the starfield, surrounded by various background stars. An annotated version of the image highlights Uranus and its celestial companions, while an animated GIF illustrates the planet’s slight movement relative to the stars over a span of ten hours.

Launched in October 2024, the Europa Clipper is en route to the Jupiter system, where it is set to conduct approximately 50 flybys of Europa, one of Jupiter’s most intriguing moons. The primary objective of the mission is to investigate the potential for life beneath Europa’s icy surface. Scientists aim to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, explore its surface interactions with the subsurface ocean, analyze its composition, and characterize its geology. By delving into these aspects, the Europa Clipper mission seeks to enhance our understanding of habitable environments beyond Earth, making it a pivotal part of ongoing astrobiological research.

As the Europa Clipper continues its journey, it not only provides stunning visuals of distant celestial bodies like Uranus but also plays a crucial role in expanding our knowledge of the universe. The insights gained from its mission could pave the way for future explorations of icy worlds and their potential to harbor life. For more information about the Europa Clipper mission and its goals, you can visit NASA’s dedicated page [here](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/).

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Europa Clipper Captures Uranus With Star Tracker Camera

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Europa Clipper Captures Uranus With Star Tracker Camera

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Description

NASA’s Europa Clipper captured this image of a starfield — and the planet Uranus — on Nov. 5, 2025, while experimenting with one of its two
stellar reference units
. These star-tracking cameras are used for maintaining spacecraft orientation. Within the camera’s field of view — representing 0.1% of the full sky around the spacecraft — Uranus is visible as a larger dot near the left side of the image.

Figure A is an annotated version of the image with Uranus and several background stars labeled.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Figure B is an animated GIF made of a pair of images taken 10 hours apart. In this version, Uranus can be seen moving very slightly, relative to the background stars.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

At the time the images were taken, Europa Clipper was about 2 billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Uranus. The spacecraft is currently en route to the Jupiter system to study the icy moon Europa.

Europa Clipper launched in October 2024 and will arrive at the Jupiter system in 2030 to conduct about 50 flybys of Europa. The mission’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below Europa’s surface that could support life. The mission’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its surface interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

For more information about Europa and Europa Clipper, go to: