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. Astronomy

    Nearby quasar may be home to dynamic duo

    A pair of black holes left over from a galaxy collision might live in the nearest quasar to Earth.

  2. Planetary Science

    Life after Pluto: New Horizons to head for Kuiper belt boulder

    The New Horizons spacecraft has a second target in the Kuiper belt: an icy boulder dubbed 2014 MU69.

  3. Planetary Science

    Mountains, craters revealed in latest images of dwarf planet Ceres

    The Dawn spacecraft sent back postcards from Ceres that show off the dwarf planet’s varied terrain.

  4. Planetary Science

    Flyby of Dione yields stunning pictures of icy Saturn moon

    Saturn’s moon Dione shows off its ripping landscapes during the Cassini spacecraft’s final flyby.

  5. Astronomy

    Eight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way

    The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.

  6. Astronomy

    Eight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way

    The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.

  7. Astronomy

    Choose Ninja, Cervantes or Rosalind as names for exoplanets

    Names for 20 exoplanets are in the hands of a discerning online audience.

  8. Astronomy

    24-eyed telescope takes full-sky movies every night

    The Evryscope, a 24-telescope array in northern Chile, will nearly continuously watch for changes in the southern sky.

  9. Astronomy

    Young black holes evade detection

    Supermassive black holes should be growing in the first billion or so years after the Big Bang, but astronomers can’t find them.

  10. Astronomy

    Faint red stars can build water worlds drip by drip

    Rocky planets around faint red stars have a hard time getting water, but they’re still probably the most common habitable locales in the Milky Way, new computer simulations suggest.

  11. Planetary Science

    Quest to trace origin of Earth’s water is ‘a complete mess’

    Understanding the origin of Earth’s water is hard enough, and it’s made harder by not knowing where all that water is hiding.

  12. Planetary Science

    Mini moons may zip around Earth

    Mini moons may buzz around Earth, and they make great targets for space missions.