--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The story seems to be that almost every…" description: "\"The story seems to be that almost every star has a planetary system... and, also, the definition of 'habitable zone' has expanded. In our system, it us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/frank-drake-29398_earth_the-story-seems-to-be-that-almost-every_38002.jpg" --- # The story seems to be that almost every star has a… ![“The story seems to be that almost every star has a planetary system... and, also, the definition of 'habitable zone' has expanded. In our system, it used to be that only Mars and Earth were potentially habitable. Now we've got an ocean on Europa... Titan.” quote by Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/frank-drake-29398_earth_the-story-seems-to-be-that-almost-every_38002.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/frank-drake-29398_earth_the-story-seems-to-be-that-almost-every_38002.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/frank-drake-29398_earth_the-story-seems-to-be-that-almost-every_38002.jpg) > “The story seems to be that almost every star has a planetary system... and, also, the definition of 'habitable zone' has expanded. In our system, it used to be that only Mars and Earth were potentially habitable. Now we've got an ocean on Europa... Titan.” [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The definition of habitable zones has broadened as we discover more planetary bodies, showing that life‑supporting conditions may exist beyond Earth and Mars. **In simple terms:** Habitable zones are expanding with new discoveries. Key Takeaway Life could exist on moons like Europa and Titan. Themes astrobiology exoplanet discovery habitability planetary science expansion of scientific concepts Mood wonder curiosity Type informative speculative When to use this quote - academic research - space mission planning - public science outreach - curriculum development Key Concepts habitable zone planetary systems Europa Titan Practical Applications - identifying promising targets for astrobiology missions - informing telescope observation priorities Questions to Reflect On - How does redefining habitability affect our search for extraterrestrial life? - What implications does this have for future colonization concepts? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Europa Titan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europa-titan-447140/) [Galaxy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/galaxy/) [Habitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habitable-447139/) [Habitable Zone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habitable-zone-447137/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Planetary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planetary/) [Potentially Habitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potentially-habitable-447138/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) ## Related quotes > [In days gone by, scientists would speak solemnly about our solar system's 'habitable zone' - a theoretical region extending from Venus to Mars, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/in-days-gone-by-scientists-would-speak-solemnly-about-our-solar/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [It now appears that essentially every star has a planetary system. In the very beginning, we thought at best half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/it-now-appears-that-essentially-every-star-has-a-planetary-system-in/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [“It’s technically habitable, but it only makes four rotations every orbit. Extreme environment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mancour/it-s-technically-habitable-but-it-only-makes-four-rotations-every/) [Terry Mancour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mancour/) > [Where on the globe can there be found an area of equal extent with that occupied by the bulk of our States, so fertile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/where-on-the-globe-can-there-be-found-an-area-of-equal-extent-with/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“This world, in which reason is more and more at home, is not habitable. It is hard and cold like those depots in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-levinas/this-world-in-which-reason-is-more-and-more-at-home-is-not-habitable/) [Emmanuel Lévinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-levinas/) > [A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-stoker/a-house-cannot-be-made-habitable-in-a-day-and-after-all-how-few-days/) [Bram Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-stoker/) > [“To me, wanting every habitable planet to be inhabited is like wanting everybody to have athlete's foot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/to-me-wanting-every-habitable-planet-to-be-inhabited-is-like-wanting/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Habit! that skillful but slow arranger, which starts out by letting our spirit suffer for weeks in a temporary state, but that thespirit is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/habit-that-skillful-but-slow-arranger-which-starts-out-by-letting-our/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Next to reasoning, the greatest handicap to the optimum development of Man lies in the fact that this planet is just barely habitable. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/next-to-reasoning-the-greatest-handicap-to-the-optimum-development-of/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [“Mortal has not been a habitable place for a long time. We have been trying to survive patching it but one day it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolina-cody-aldaz/mortal-has-not-been-a-habitable-place-for-a-long-time-we-have-been/) [Carolina Cody Aldaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolina-cody-aldaz/) > [Look round the habitable world, how few Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/look-round-the-habitable-world-how-few-know-their-own-good-or-knowing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Were getting closer and closer to finding a habitable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-seager/were-getting-closer-and-closer-to-finding-a-habitable-world/) [Sara Seager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-seager/) > [The outer world, from which we cower into our houses, seemed after all a gentle habitable place; and night after night a man's bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/the-outer-world-from-which-we-cower-into-our-houses-seemed-after-all/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [“We have built cities that scrape the sky, machines that think and a global network that allows people to yell at each other at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-kyriacou/we-have-built-cities-that-scrape-the-sky-machines-that-think-and-a/) [Natalie Kyriacou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-kyriacou/) > [The room has to be comfortable; the house has to look habitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-room-has-to-be-comfortable-the-house-has-to-look-habitable/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) ## More by Frank Drake > [People presume we've been somehow monitoring the entire sky at all frequencies, all the time, but we haven't yet been able to do any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/people-presume-we-ve-been-somehow-monitoring-the-entire-sky-at-all/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > ["I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us," Jean Giraudoux wrote in The Madwoman of Chaillot, "and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-moment-the-whole-universe-is/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [In 1957, I was studying the Pleiades star cluster at Harvard University's radio observatory. On one occasion, we saw an added feature in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/in-1957-i-was-studying-the-pleiades-star-cluster-at-harvard/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [There was a magic about pulsars... no other things in the sky had such labels on them. Each one had its own distinct pulsing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/there-was-a-magic-about-pulsars-no-other-things-in-the-sky-had-such/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [No company is hiring anyone to search for messages from aliens. Most people don't seem to think there's much benefit to it. The lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/no-company-is-hiring-anyone-to-search-for-messages-from-aliens-most/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Right now, there could well be messages from the stars flying right through this room. Through you and me. And if we had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/right-now-there-could-well-be-messages-from-the-stars-flying-right/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Nature never uses prime numbers. But mathematicians do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/nature-never-uses-prime-numbers-but-mathematicians-do/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [To use Newton's words, our efforts up till this moment have but turned over a pebble or shell here and there on the beach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/to-use-newton-s-words-our-efforts-up-till-this-moment-have-but-turned/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [While NASA talks about 'Are we alone?' as a number one question, they are putting zero money into searching for intelligent life. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/while-nasa-talks-about-are-we-alone-as-a-number-one-question-they-are/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [The pulsar map is not dangerous at all. It will likely never even be seen by extraterrestrials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/the-pulsar-map-is-not-dangerous-at-all-it-will-likely-never-even-be/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Other intelligent life-forms will differ greatly in appearance - they may resemble the creature in E.T. or startle us with their beauty - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/other-intelligent-life-forms-will-differ-greatly-in-appearance-they/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Forty years as an astronomer have not quelled my enthusiasm for lying outside after dark, staring up at the stars. It isn't only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/forty-years-as-an-astronomer-have-not-quelled-my-enthusiasm-for-lying/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [It now appears that essentially every star has a planetary system. In the very beginning, we thought at best half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/it-now-appears-that-essentially-every-star-has-a-planetary-system-in/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Only by doing the best we can with the very best that an era offers, do we find the way to do better in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/only-by-doing-the-best-we-can-with-the-very-best-that-an-era-offers/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [We send messages all the time, free of charge. There's a big shell out there now, 80 light-years around us. A civilization only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/we-send-messages-all-the-time-free-of-charge-there-s-a-big-shell-out/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) [Explore all 18 Frank Drake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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