David Kipping

Hi BlueSky! I'm a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University where I lead the Cool Worlds Lab, studying exoplanets, exomoons & exolife and sharing our passion for science over YouTube.com/CoolWorldsLab. I post about my team's research, spicy hot takes and whatever's going on in my life.

New paper! Allow me to introduce TARS = Torqued Accelerator using Radiation from the Sun. TARS (yes inspired by Interstellar!) is a rotating light sail that's capable of launching chip sats into interstellar space using only radiation from the Sun, so let's dive into how it works.

I am looking to commission some spacecraft CGI animations, professional quality on par with spacecraft deployment videos we often see in NASA/ESA videos. If you have the skills and are interested, reply below and I'll add you for DM follow up!

The principles of a university are anti-institutional. It’s a place which explores controversial ideas, challenges dogmatic thinking and celebrates academic free speech. No wonder institutions don’t like them.

Love will always win

I love all the astronauts but is it ok to have favorites in Glover and Koch?

NASA Flew by the Moon, but Behind the Scenes, Its Science Is a Chaotic Mess www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...

Let’s goooooo!

“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below.”

Are Wormholes Actually Possible? youtu.be/z90spjws6z8

You have to feel sorry for folks who study the Epstein regime... arxiv.org/abs/2603.15810

let it be known that my achilles heel is cadbury mini eggs

One thing I’m seeing is that AI appears to be perceived by many as an increasingly political topic, whereas a decade ago it was largely one of technology alone. Both statements of critique and praise for such systems are becoming seen as latently partisan, much like climate science experienced.