All Stories by Christopher Crockett
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SpaceHow two gamma-ray bursts created record-breaking high-energy photons
Light packing up to 1 trillion electron volts of energy bolsters a theory for how these cosmic explosions produce such high-energy radiation.
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SpaceRealigning magnetic fields may drive the sun’s spiky plasma tendrils
Solar spicules emerge near counterpointing magnetic fields, hinting that self-adjusting magnetism creates these filaments, which may heat the corona.
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SpaceNASA gave Ultima Thule a new official name
The distant world briefly visited by New Horizons is now called Arrokoth, a Powhatan word that means “sky.”
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SpaceLight leaking from a distant galaxy hints at a cosmic makeover’s origins
Ultraviolet light slips through a hole in a distant galaxy’s gas. Older galaxies might have used the trick to ionize most of the universe’s hydrogen.
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SpaceVoyager 2 reveals the dynamic, complex nature of the solar system’s edge
With two spacecraft outside the sun’s magnetic bubble, researchers get a new look at the boundary between the sun and its galactic environment.
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Planetary ScienceAccolades, skepticism and science marked Science News’ coverage of Apollo
Science News’ coverage of the Apollo program stayed focused on the science but also framed the moon missions in the broader social and political context of the era.
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Planetary ScienceSaturn has two hexagons, not one, swirling around its north pole
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spied a vortex growing high over Saturn’s north pole, whose hexagonal shape mirrors a famous underlying cyclone.
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Planetary ScienceJupiter’s magnetic field is surprisingly weird
New results from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal different magnetic behavior in the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres.
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Planetary ScienceNew Horizons has sent back the first images of Ultima Thule, its next target
NASA probe gets its first look at distant Kuiper Belt object
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Particle PhysicsA new quasiparticle lurks in semiconductors
Strange entities called collexons hint at undiscovered physics among interacting subatomic particles in a semiconductor.
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Planetary ScienceSatellite smashups could have given birth to Saturn’s odd moons
Nearly head-on collisions between icy moonlets might be responsible for the peculiar shapes of some of Saturn’s moons, computer simulations suggest.
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Planetary Science4 surprising things we just learned about Jupiter
Polar cyclones, surprisingly deep atmosphere and a fluid mass spinning as a rigid body are among the latest discoveries at Jupiter.