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Christopher Crockett

Interim Astronomy Writer

Christopher Crockett is the interim astronomy writer. 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. Astronomy

    Sun’s sibling spotted

    A nearby star may have come from the same birth cluster as the sun; learning how to find other solar siblings could point the way to their common origin.

  2. Astronomy

    Milky Way’s far side reveals some secrets

    Variable stars provide first direct measurements of distance to the far side of the Milky Way.

  3. Astronomy

    Milky Way’s magnetic field mapped

    The Planck telescope sees the galaxy’s magnetic field in polarized light bouncing off interstellar dust grains.

  4. Cosmology

    Universe re-created in computer simulation

    The Illustris Project traces the detailed evolution of the universe starting from 12 million years after the Big Bang.

  5. Cosmology

    See the sky in a different light

  6. Physics

    Gravity’s Ghost and Big Dog

    Sociologist Harry Collins chronicles the occasionally heated (and often arcane) debates among scientists studying gravitational waves.

  7. Astronomy

    Exoplanet spin measured for first time

    Astronomers measure the spin of a planet outside our solar system, and its days are short: just over eight hours.

  8. Astronomy

    Distant swirling galaxy dwarfed by violent star killer

    In a mosaic of images from a telescope in Chile, dark dust lanes and twisting tails betray a history of galactic collisions.

  9. Astronomy

    White dwarf boosts light of stellar companion

    A gravitational lens in a binary star lets astronomers weigh the core of a dead star.

  10. Astronomy

    Earth-sized planet found in star’s habitable zone

    Astronomers have found a potentially habitable Earth-sized planet around a cool red star.

  11. Astronomy

    Early Mars couldn’t hold liquid water long

    Small rocks hit Mars 3.6 billion years ago, suggesting an early atmosphere too thin for liquid water to hang around very long.

  12. Astronomy

    Diamond ring shape formed by dead and living stars

    Abell 33 is a planetary nebula, the remains of a star, beautifully aligned with another star.