Christopher Crockett

Interim Astronomy Writer

Christopher Crockett is a freelance science writer and editor based in Arlington, Va. Crockett was the astronomy writer at Science News from 2014 to 2017. He has a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

All Stories by Christopher Crockett

  1. illustration of a large, dusty galaxy
    Space

    An ancient galaxy grew massive — then oddly stopped making stars

    After ferociously producing stars for a few hundred million years, this galaxy in the early universe gave up, and astronomers aren’t sure why.

  2. illustration of ESA Solar Orbiter probe in front of the sun
    Space

    ESA’s Solar Orbiter will be the first spacecraft to study the sun’s polar zones

    ESA's Solar Orbiter is now on its way to the sun, beginning a nearly two-year journey.

  3. CHIME radio telescope
    Space

    This is the first fast radio burst known to have a steady beat

    Brief blasts of radio energy from other galaxies keep stumping astronomers, but one seems to be on a 16-day cycle, a new clue in an ongoing puzzle.

  4. white dwarf illustration
    Space

    The wobbling orbit of a pulsar proves Einstein right, yet again

    Astronomers have found a pulsar’s orbit being rocked to and fro as a neighboring white dwarf whips up spacetime, in accordance with general relativity.

  5. Plasma on solar surface
    Space

    These are the most detailed images of the sun ever taken

    First images from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope reveal details on the surface of the sun three times as small as ever seen.

  6. Spitzer galaxy image
    Space

    As NASA’s Spitzer telescope’s mission ends, here’s a look back at its discoveries

    For more than 16 years, the Spitzer Space Telescope has witnessed the births and deaths of stars, charted the Milky Way, found faraway worlds and more.

  7. Asteroid 2020 AV2
    Planetary Science

    For the first time, an asteroid has been found nearer to the sun than Venus

    A space rock dubbed 2020 AV2, found in close orbit around the sun, probably got there after a series of close encounters with rocky planets.

  8. Proxima Centauri illustration
    Space

    A second planet may orbit Proxima Centauri

    The star closest to the sun may harbor another planet, this one much more massive and colder than Earth.

  9. Milky Way gas
    Space

    A giant wave of gas lurks near our solar system

    The Earth and sun are relatively near a newfound, wavy rope of star-forming gas, named the Radcliffe Wave.

  10. Milky way star cluster
    Space

    Young stars have been found in an old part of our galaxy

    A newly discovered star cluster in the Milky Way’s halo seems to have been deposited there by gas torn off of two satellite galaxies.

  11. ionized hydrogen bubbles
    Space

    Bubble-blowing galaxies could help solve a cosmic mystery

    Three galaxies ionizing hydrogen 680 million years after the Big Bang show a potential step in the ionization of nearly all hydrogen in the cosmos.

  12. Astronomy

    LIGO detects its second neutron star collision, but gains few clues

    Gravitational waves have once again heralded a smashup between neutron stars, but this time with no flash of light to help guide understanding.