Ian writes about space and especially enjoys writing about astrophysics, Mars exploration, black holes and our brave space robots that allow humanity to push beyond the final frontier. He's a British guy living in Los Angeles with a Ph.D. in solar physics and a master's degree in astrophysics. He digs tea and craft beer, and has an obsession for science fiction and computer games. He's forever optimistic that, despite the chaos and uncertainty of our daily lives, we are only at the beginning of the human story from a cosmic perspective. Space exploration is an adventure; it's his job to chronicle our journey. You can also follow his writing and videos on Astroengine.com.
Recent Contributions
Water surrounds us, falling from the sky and pouring from faucets, and yet many of us never ask where it comes from. The answer stretches way back — before tides and thunderclouds to the big bang.
No worries though. Jupiter, Neptune or Uranus could create their own beautiful, bright ring display in the distant future.
Get ready for the most powerful electromagnetic explosion the universe has ever known.
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Those stars twinkling in the nighttime sky may actually be crystal spheres. And our beloved star is headed in that direction, too. Eventually.
In this stellar nursery, firstborn stars are ruthless.
So what does that mean for good ol' Earth someday?
It's tricky to see the true shape of the Milky Way when you're stuck inside it. So how did scientists figure it out?
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You could be reading this article deep in a dark matter rainforest filled with creatures in a roaring dark matter ecosystem — but have no clue.
As the search for Planet Nine wears on, and astronomers have yet to get so much as a glimpse of it, researchers are pondering what else the object might be.
And don't worry. Even if NASA misses, we'll be fine.
Hints of Einstein's general relativity have been detected in a black hole "laboratory" smack in the center of the Milky Way.
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The seriously ambitious experiment aims to understand the mysterious neutrino and maybe even figure out why matter won out over antimatter during the Big Bang.
The groundbreaking Saturn mission has come to an end, protecting Saturn's moon in its final plunge.
The very existence of this planetary heavyweight is puzzling astronomers.
And one of the exoplanets in the Teegarden star system could have a temperature range between 32 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Researchers at the Zwicky Transient Facility have found an asteroid in Earth's orbit. And this one has the shortest year yet.
The planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, or LISA, will be able to detect the gravitational waves generated by massive collisions in the deep cosmos.
Plus, we throw in one reason to get excited anyway.
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Neither massive planets nor tiny stars, brown dwarfs are entirely different substellar curiosities that possess qualities of both.
And it's just a galactic hop, skip and a jump away.
This isn't your run-of-the-mill supernova.
It's the first interstellar rock we've ever found!
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The Kepler Space Telescope seeks out small habitable exoplanets that may share similar qualities to Earth.
A stunning accusation has been made: About 10 billion years ago, a small galaxy strayed too close to ours, so our galaxy ate it.