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. Astronomy

    Young planets carve rings and spirals in the gas around their suns

    New telescope images show rings and spiral arms in disks encircling young stars, suggesting the presence of actively growing planets.

  2. Planetary Science

    X-ray mystery shrouds Pluto

    Chandra telescope detects seven X-ray photons coming from Pluto, suggesting that the solar wind runs into a tail of gas streaming from the dwarf planet.

  3. Planetary Science

    Mars lander debris spotted

    The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the impact site of the Schiaparelli Mars lander, missing in action since its October 19 descent.

  4. Planetary Science

    Two unseen moons may circle Uranus

    Two more moons might be lurking around Uranus, causing material in the planet’s rings to clump up, Voyager 2 data suggest.

  5. Astronomy

    Uranus moon count: 27 and rising

    Two more moons might be lurking around Uranus, causing material in the planet’s rings to clump up, Voyager 2 data suggest.

  6. Planetary Science

    First peek under clouds reveals Jupiter’s surprising depths

    Jupiter’s colorful bands originate several hundred kilometers beneath the cloud tops, the Juno spacecraft reveals.

  7. Planetary Science

    Mars lander silent as mission scientists work out what went wrong

    Schiaparelli lander is still silent on the surface of Mars while mission scientists try to understand what happened during the probe’s descent.

  8. Planetary Science

    Experts don’t agree on age of Saturn’s rings

    Saturn’s rings could be almost as old as the solar system, and the Cassini craft is poised to help find out.

  9. Planetary Science

    Juno spacecraft goes into ‘safe mode,’ continues to orbit Jupiter

    The Juno spacecraft has gone into safe mode while in orbit around Jupiter. Mission scientists are also closely monitoring a fuel valve issue on the probe.

  10. Planetary Science

    Mission scientists await signal from Mars lander

    The ExoMars mission’s Schiaparelli lander went silent before its scheduled landing on the Red Planet.

  11. Planetary Science

    Possibly cloudy forecast for parts of Pluto

    Reflective patches on Pluto could be hints of rare cloud formation on the dwarf planet.

  12. Planetary Science

    ExoMars mission set to arrive at Red Planet on October 19

    The European ExoMars mission is about to arrive at the Red Planet, dropping a lander on the surface and putting a spacecraft into orbit.