Space is a vast mystery. We are far from the times when we boldly assumed that us humans were at the center of the universe, for now we know that our little rock in the cosmos is just one in billions. Unfortunately, even though we now know of the existence of many other planets, our limited technology doesn’t allow us much more than to simply glance at them from millions of light years away. And yet humans are curious creatures, and we will not let the boundaries of inferior technology stop us. So we come up with theories and equations to help us unravel just a little bit of the secrets that are hiding somewhere in the endless universe. One such equation was conceived by Dr. Frank Drake, now famously known as the Drake Equation. The Drake equation measures the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrial life in the universe, but since we can’t actually see if other planets in the cosmos literally support life, we need to be searching for something else.
The Drake Equation is as follows:
It looks like a complicated math equation, and in a sense it is, but in reality it’s quite simple. The product of seven different variables spits out a number equal to the number of possible intelligent civilizations. The Drake Equation isn’t anything that’s groundbreaking; rather, it’s a talking point for people interested in the possibility of intelligent alien life. Personally, I look upon the Drake Equation with hope because it’s proof that there are scientists out there who share my passion for the search of extraterrestrial life.
The thing is, there aren’t 100 percent calculated numbers for these variables, so there isn’t a definite answer to the equation. It probably won’t be verified anytime soon, but astronomers are makings strides at locating planets they think may be suitable for life. In 1995, the first planet around a star similar to the Sun was discovered, and Michel Mayor, an astronomer on the team who discovered the first exoplanet, called that age “fantastic times”. The discovery was in 1995 and the quote was spoken in 2005, and since then, astronomers have made tremendous progress in discovering a multitude of new exoplanets. Planets can be discovered in traditionally one of two ways. Astronomers can look for a repetitive dim in the star’s light, which would indicate that something is orbiting the star, or a slight gravitational wobble in the star which would indicate the pull from the planet’s gravity. Now, nearly 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered, and there’s surely more to come.
As someone who is extremely excited about the direction the future is going in terms of astronomy, I applaud people like Dr. Drake for pioneering the way in the search for extraterrestrial life. Hopefully, someday in the not so distant future, we will get confirmation on extraterrestrial life and take another big step into the future.