
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.

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All Stories by Christopher Crockett
- Astronomy
Rare trio of supermassive black holes found
Three supermassive black holes residing where two distant galaxies collide offer new clues about where to look for gravitational waves.
- Astronomy
Milky Way galaxy’s dust clouds shown in 3-D map
A new three-dimensional map of interstellar dust in the Milky Way wraps 180 degrees around the sky and extends over 16,000 light-years from Earth.
- Astronomy
Galaxy seed found from 3 billion years after Big Bang
A still-growing core of a galaxy in the early universe may help astronomers understand how massive elliptical galaxies get their start.
- Cosmology
Dazzle or dust?
The unpredictable glow of galactic dust could undermine the biggest cosmological discovery in years.
- Astronomy
Supermassive black hole kills monster galaxy
A supermassive black hole appears to have shut down star formation in an ancient, massive galaxy.
- Astronomy
Stopping starlight may bring other Earths into focus
Two new telescope concepts compete for NASA’s approval, in hopes of taking the first picture of a life-bearing exoplanet.
- Astronomy
Hubble space telescope spies teenage galaxies
New Hubble telescope images show ultraviolet radiation from stars born during the universe’s adolescent phase.
- Astronomy
Galactic collision creates huge particle collider
New images reveal a jet of particles shooting out of a collision among four galaxy clusters.
- Astronomy
Rocky, overweight planet shakes up theories
Kepler-10c is a rocky exoplanet 17 times as massive as Earth, and astronomers are puzzled as to how it formed.
- Planetary Science
Do-it-yourself solar system
If you've always wanted to build your own solar system, roll up your sleeves — SuperPlanetCrash is an online solar system simulator, set up as a game.
- Astronomy
Young, hot exoplanet takes title for longest year
Newly discovered exoplanet sits a whopping 2,000 times farther from its star than Earth does from the sun.
- Astronomy
Sun shines new life on Kepler space telescope
NASA approved a proposal to bring the crippled Kepler spacecraft back to life, using sunlight as balance to help the telescope search for planets and more.