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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Planetary Science
Possibly cloudy forecast for parts of Pluto
Reflective patches on Pluto could be hints of rare cloud formation on the dwarf planet.
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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.