06/09/2022
On 2 September 2022, we have lost one of the greatest scientists of our era, founder of the SETI Institute, astronomer and astrophysicist, Frank Donald Drake.
Frank Drake (1930-2022) left an indelible mark on our planet. We will miss him deeply. Our deepest condolences to his family. Rest with the stars, Frank. 🙏💐💐
Drake Equation ✨
The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy:
N = R*•fp•ne•fl•fi•fc•L
where:
N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible (i.e. which are on our current past light cone);
and
R∗ = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fl = the fraction of planets that could support life that actually develop life at some point
fi = the fraction of planets with life that actually go on to develop intelligent life (civilizations)
fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space.