How many exoplanets are in range for SETI to hear?

In the two decades since the discovery of the world around 51 Pegasi, thousands of exoplanets have been uncovered using the Kepler space telescope. Many Institute scientists are part of the Kepler research team, and others participate in the Kepler outreach program. read more

The US NASA SETI program was cancelled in 1994, and since then, there have been attempts by private entities to revive it, but most of that is amateur work and they don't have access to the best telescopes in the world. read more

And while there are indeed thousands of exoplanets (or exoplanet candidates) that have been discovered, we have no way at present of assessing their habitability. In any event, they are far too distant for spacecraft visits in the foreseeable future. read more