Guest Writer

Christopher Crockett

Astronomy Writer, 2014-2017

Christopher Crockett is a freelance science writer based in Montgomery, Alabama. He 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.

Christopher Crockett's Articles
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News in Brief

Saturn 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.

2 weeks ago

Planetary Science
News in Brief

Jupiter’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.

2 weeks ago

Planetary Science
Science Ticker

New Horizons has sent back the first images of Ultima Thule, its next target

NASA probe gets its first look at distant Kuiper Belt object

3 weeks ago

Planetary Science
News in Brief

A new quasiparticle lurks in semiconductors

Strange entities called collexons hint at undiscovered physics among interacting subatomic particles in a semiconductor.

2 months ago

Particle Physics
Science Visualized

Satellite 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.

4 months ago

Planetary Science
News

4 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.

6 months ago

Planetary Science
Television

‘Death Dive to Saturn’ celebrates the Cassini probe’s accomplishments

A new documentary, “Death Dive to Saturn,” takes a look back at the Cassini spacecraft’s 13 years at Saturn and what to expect from its final days.

1 year ago

Planetary Science
Feature

Life might have a shot on planets orbiting dim red stars

The number of planets in the habitable zone of dim red suns, known as M dwarfs, is growing. They’re a good place to look for life.

1 year ago

Exoplanets
Science Visualized

Observers caught these stars going supernova

Thirty years ago, astronomers witnessed a nearby stellar explosion, but it wasn’t the first. Humanity has been recording local supernovas for nearly two millennia.

1 year ago

Astronomy,

Supernova 1987A
Feature

30 years later, supernova 1987A is still sharing secrets

The 1987 explosion of a star near the Milky Way 30 years ago set off years of fascinating findings.

1 year ago

Astronomy,

Supernova 1987A