Ian William Ridpath (born 1 May 1947 in Ilford, Essex) is a British science writer and broadcaster, best known as a populariser of astronomy. Before turning to writing he worked as an assistant in the lunar research group at the University of London Observatory, Mill Hill. A full-time writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster since 1972, he has edited the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy and Norton's Star Atlas, and written numerous observing guides as well as Star Tales, on the origins and mythology of the constellations. A UFO sceptic, he offered a rational explanation of the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident. In 2012 he received the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Klumpke-Roberts Award for his contribution to the public understanding of astronomy.