Keith Cooper
Keith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor in the United Kingdom, and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester. He's the author of "The Contact Paradox: Challenging Our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020) and has written articles on astronomy, space, physics and astrobiology for a multitude of magazines and websites.
Latest articles by Keith Cooper
Life as we know it may have its roots in an old, cold cosmic cloud
By Keith Cooper published
The discovery is another step along the road to showing that the stuff of life originally came to Earth from space.
Dark matter may be hiding in the Large Hadron Collider's particle jets
By Keith Cooper published
A new study helped scientists better constrain the possible properties of dark matter particles.
'The Making of JUICE' film documents how scientists built a Jupiter-bound spacecraft against the odds
By Keith Cooper published
JUICE blasted off in April 2023 on a mission to explore Jupiter’s ocean moons and learn more about whether they could support life.
Our universe's smallest galaxies hold the largest star factories. Here's why
By Keith Cooper published
Conditions within dwarf galaxies initially produce more stellar-mass black holes than supernova explosions.
James Webb Space Telescope sees major star factory near the Milky Way's black hole (image)
By Keith Cooper published
The JWST has imaged an intense region of star-formation near the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, making findings that could be key to understanding the earliest galaxies.
Hubble Telescope investigates nearby exoplanet, finds it's Earth-size
By Keith Cooper published
The rocky exoplanet LTT 1445Ac, located about 22.5 light years away, has been observed transiting its star by the Hubble Space Telescope.
James Webb Space Telescope makes 1st discovery of disappearing neon around newborn star
By Keith Cooper published
Missing neon in a planet-forming disk of gas and dust indicates a change in radiation that's slowly eroding the disk.
James Webb Space Telescope finds 2 of the most distant galaxies ever seen
By Keith Cooper published
We see these galaxies as they were over 13.45 billion years ago, just between 330 and 350 million years after the Big Bang.
Astronomers pierce cosmic dust of 'Jewel Bug Nebula' to study anatomy of a dying star
By Keith Cooper published
The new spectrograph, named IGRINS-2, will probe regions of star-birth and star-death, as well as observe exoplanets and track the evolution of galaxies.
James Webb Space Telescope detects clues about how Earth formed billions of years ago
By Keith Cooper published
Water vapor observed sublimating from tiny chunks of rock within planet-forming disks is a sign that a process called "pebble accretion" kickstarts the birth of new worlds.
This supermassive black hole is the most distant ever seen in X-rays
By Keith Cooper published
How did supermassive black holes form? JWST and Chandra may have found the answer.
Star explosions boost deep space cosmic rays to near the speed of light
By Keith Cooper published
X-ray observations from the supernova remnant SN 1006 show its magnetic fields align to accelerate cosmic rays.
The rings of Uranus are being held back by its pesky moons
By Keith Cooper published
Large amounts of dust are being expelled from the Uranus system to settle in the ecliptic plane and contribute to the zodiacal light, a new study suggests.
Infrared aurora on Uranus confirmed for the 1st time
By Keith Cooper published
After nearly 40 years of searching, astronomers have now spotted the infrared northern lights on Uranus.
Search for intelligent aliens explores new radio-frequency realms
By Keith Cooper published
Over 1.6 million star systems have been scanned by Europe's LOFAR system so far, but E.T. hasn't been caught phoning home yet.
Nailing down exoplanet orbits could be key to finding ET. Here's why
By Keith Cooper published
A better understanding of exoplanet orbits is helping SETI astronomers reduce their computational costs and conduct their search for intelligent aliens faster.
Curiosity rover discovers new evidence Mars once had 'right conditions' for life
By Keith Cooper published
Thanks to NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, geologists have discovered evidence for ancient rivers on the Red Planet hiding in plain sight, suggesting the planet once had the right conditions for life.
Home of the world's most powerful telescopes joins the fight against light pollution
By Keith Cooper published
Improved lighting standards coming into force across the whole of Chile will protect astronomy observations, public health and wildlife.
Quasars: Everything you need to know about the brightest objects in the universe
By Keith Cooper last updated
Reference The early universe was filled with quasars, each one a supermassive black hole surrounded by a hot accretion disk of gas that is steadily falling into the black hole.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence gets a new home at Oxford
By Keith Cooper published
The Breakthrough Listen initiative has moved its headquarters to the U.K. to take advantage of the reams of data set to come from the Square Kilometer Array.
James Webb Space Telescope detects quartz crystals in an exoplanet's atmosphere
By Keith Cooper published
Almost twice as big (but half as massive) as Jupiter, WASP-17b burns at a temperature of 1,500 degrees Celsius.
In the search for alien life, should we be looking for artificial intelligence?
By Keith Cooper published
Superintelligences might reveal themselves through the technosignatures of their cosmic engineering projects.
How precious metals were brought to Earth and preserved in a magma ocean
By Keith Cooper published
We’ve got geophysics to thank for preventing our precious metals from sinking to Earth’s core.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!