compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

Vast Oceans of Water May Be Hiding Within Uranus and Neptune We might finally understand what’s going on inside Uranus and Neptune, and the answer is pretty surprising: They may each contain an ocean of water. “We didn’t really know anything before,” about their interiors, said Adam Masters, a space and planetary scientist at Imperial College London. “So this hypothesis is very compelling.”…more

The Quest to Build a Star on Earth The quest for fusion energy — the clean, potentially limitless source that could end mankind’s power woes — began as an answer to an old question, one we’ve been asking since we first raised our heads toward the sky. It was the mid-19th century. Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection had upended our notions of ourselves and our world…more

First Close-Up of Star Outside Our Galaxy Shows a Giant About to Blow In a stunning scientific and technological feat, a group of astronomers said Thursday that it had managed to take the first close-up picture of a star in another galaxy. Not only was the image a distance record for such cosmic intimacy, but the star, bulging like an overripe fruit, looks as if it is getting ready to explode…more

Can Axions Save the Universe? The search is on for some of the flimsiest lumps of matter and energy ever dreamed up by physicists. They are darker than night, barely more substantial than a thought, and named after a laundry detergent. But axions, as they are called, could constitute most of the matter in our universe, forming the unseen skeletons of galaxies and chains of light that adorn the skies of astronomers….more

NASA Says Space Station Astronaut Is in ‘Incredible Health’ Suni Williams, a NASA astronaut currently on the International Space Station, is healthy and not suffering from any medical problems, NASA’s top medical officer said on Thursday. The unusual pronouncement was prompted by news articles suggesting that Ms. Williams was experiencing health problems…more

Barnard’s Star Finally Has a Planet, and Possibly More Barnard’s Star is a dim, reddish ball of gas just six light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is the nearest stand-alone star to our sun, but with only one-fifth the mass, it is so dim that no one knew it was there until 1916, when the astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard recorded its image on a photographic plate…more

New EU space commissioner outlines priorities The new European Union commissioner responsible for space says he will focus on improving European competitiveness and security in space, including passage of a long-delayed space law. Andrius Kubilius formally started his tenure as the European Commissioner for Defence and Space on Dec. 1 after members of the European Parliament confirmed him among a slate of 26 commissioners Nov. 27 for five-year terms….more

An Asteroid’s Destruction May Have Given Mars Rings, Then Moons Something’s not quite right about the moons of Mars. They are too small — Phobos is 17 miles across, and Deimos is a mere nine miles in length. And they aren’t round, but lumpy, misshaped objects. Frankly, they don’t resemble moons at all…more

SpaceX Starship’s Sonic Boom Creates Risk of Structural Damage, Test Finds SpaceX’s new Starship rocket far exceeds projected maximum noise levels, generating a sonic boom so powerful it risks property damage in the densely populated residential community near its South Texas launch site, new data suggests…more

Space photo of the week: James Webb telescope spots a secret star factory in the Sombrero Galaxy It may have been first discovered in 1781, but the aptly named Sombrero Galaxy has never looked like this. This striking new perspective on an icon of the deep sky comes from NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope, which has rendered the spiral galaxy that looks like a broad-brimmed Mexican hat both in high resolution and at mid-infrared wavelengths for the first time…more

Two Black Holes Are Giving the Cosmos a Fright One is a serial killer, on the verge of devouring its second star in five years. The other is part of what astronomers are calling a black-hole triple, the first known instance of a three-body system that includes a black hole, which is not supposed to be part of the mix, according to standard astrophysics…more