headshot of Associate News Editor Christopher Crockett

Christopher Crockett

Associate News Editor

Christopher Crockett is an Associate News Editor. He was formerly the astronomy writer from 2014 to 2017, and he has a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

All Stories by Christopher Crockett

  1. Planetary Science

    Support grows for a return to ice giants Uranus and Neptune

    Thirty years ago, Voyager 2 cruised past Uranus and then on to Neptune. Now planetary scientists think it’s time to go back.

  2. Astronomy

    Largest rocky world found

    A planet roughly half the size of Neptune might be 100 percent rock, making it the largest known rocky world.

  3. Astronomy

    Odd star’s dimming not aliens’ doing

    A star’s flickering light and century-long dimming have astronomers hunting for exocomet storms, prowling dust clouds and even alien engineers.

  4. Planetary Science

    Computer simulations heat up hunt for Planet Nine

    A giant planet in the far outer solar system could explain orbital oddities of bodies in the fringes of the Kuiper belt.

  5. Cosmology

    ‘The Cosmic Web’ weaves tale of universe’s architecture

    A new book chronicles the quest over the last century to understand how the universe is pieced together and how it came to be this way.

  6. Astronomy

    Middleweight black hole suspected near Milky Way’s center

    A gas cloud in the center of the galaxy might be temporarily hosting the second most massive black hole known in the Milky Way.

  7. Planetary Science

    Time running out on comet lander

    Philae’s days are numbered as temperatures on comet 67P drop and attempts to communicate with the lander fail.

  8. Planetary Science

    Evidence mounts for hidden ninth planet

    A new analysis of bodies in the Kuiper Belt strengthens the case for an unseen planet lurking in the outer regions of our solar system.

  9. Astronomy

    The votes are in: Exoplanets get new names

    Arion, Galileo and Poltergeist are just three winners of a contest to name planets and suns in 20 solar systems.

  10. Astronomy

    Exploding star is the brightest supernova ever seen

    The brightest known supernova put out more energy than 500 billion suns.

  11. Astronomy

    To search for an advanced civilization, take a U-turn to star clusters

    Globular star clusters might be safe, stable homes for long-lived advanced civilizations.

  12. Astronomy

    This black hole is an extreme recycler

    A cosmic pump powered by a supermassive black hole is recycling gas through a galaxy.