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

    Rosetta spots Philae lander on surface of comet 67P

    Missing since November 2014, the Philae comet lander has been found lurking in the shadows on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

  2. Astronomy

    Black hole app lets you blow up stars

    NOVA’s Black Hole app for iPad is an addictive game that teaches lessons about gravity and astronomy while letting you hurl stars at one another.

  3. Planetary Science

    Water plays big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres

    Findings from the Dawn spacecraft turn up cryovolcanoes, ice patches and hydrated minerals on Ceres, supporting the idea that water helped shape the dwarf planet.

  4. Planetary Science

    Water has played a big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres

    Findings from the Dawn spacecraft turn up cryovolcanoes, ice patches and hydrated minerals on Ceres, supporting the idea that water helped shape the dwarf planet.

  5. Astronomy

    Radio signal probably not from extraterrestrials

    A possible radio signal from extraterrestrials probably originated a lot closer to home.

  6. Planetary Science

    Spacecraft reveal diversity in solar system’s landscapes

    The latest generation of interplanetary spacecraft have revealed diverse landscapes on planets, asteroids and comets throughout the solar system.

  7. Planetary Science

    Venus once possibly habitable, study suggests

    Venus might have once been habitable and home to a shallow ocean.

  8. Astronomy

    Signs of planet detected around sun’s nearest neighbor star

    A planet roughly the size of Earth orbits within the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the sun.

  9. Astronomy

    Astronomers prepare for 2017 solar eclipse spectacle

    With one year to go, researchers are making plans for studying both the sun and Earth during the August 2017 total solar eclipse.

  10. Astronomy

    Tabby’s star drama continues

    Tabby’s star, already known for its bizarre flicking and fading, dimmed throughout the four years of Kepler’s primary mission.

  11. Astronomy

    Dark matter candidate particles are a no-show in Hitomi data

    Before the Hitomi satellite broke apart, it captured data that cast further doubt on evidence of X-rays from dark matter particles in a galaxy cluster.

  12. Astronomy

    This year’s Perseid meteor shower will be especially flashy

    This year’s Perseid meteor shower could produce up to 200 meteors per hour as Earth plows through the debris trail of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.