What Does The Largest Moon In The Solar System Look Like? Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede, Larger Than Even

“Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want.”

David H. Levy (discoverer of Sheomaker-Levy 9 comet, the one which impacted on Jupiter)

The Drake Equation (sometimes known as: Green Bank equation or the Green Bank Formula)

The Drake Equation is a formula that may calculate the possibility of contactable extra-terrestrial alien species. 

Proposed by Frank Drake in 1961, the Drake Equation is a probability argument that would estimate how many contactable, active and communicable alien species there are in our Milky Way. 

The Drake Equation is, as follows;

N = R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc •  L.

In this equation, N =  the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible. 

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

The Drake Equation acts as a summary of which we can expect to communicate (if at all) with those who are extra-terrestrial.  The last four parameters: fl, fi, fc and L, are not known and are very hard to estimate, with values ranging over many orders of magnitude. 

Therefore it is not a direct measurement of when we will communicate but a roadmap towards creating and estimating the means necessary to communicate with our space buddies. 

Comet PanSTARRS

Gorgeous picture of Comet PanSTARRS taken by Carl Gruber on March 2, 2013 at a mountain lookout in Melbourne.

Knate Myers - View from the ISS at Night

This animation shows how fast a rocket must go to leave every planet

Goodbye to M42 for this year.  But I’ll see you again in November.  Meanwhile I can look at this picture I took in January of this year.

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