4 ms·
We don't know how rare either actually is. For both we have just one example - us. This suggests odds of no more than one in several thousand. But it doesn't
by btilly 4y ago
We don't know how rare either actually is. For both we have just one example - us. This suggests odds of no more than one in several thousand. But it doesn't take too many filters of that order of magnitude for a few hundred billion to become a handful, and the handful to become just one.
Your point about binary star systems is interesting. Orbital dynamics have a well-known tendency to be chaotic. In a single star system, this chaos is significantly less of a problem. But in a double star systems, the odds of moving in/out of the habitable zone over time are much higher. So that's probably a filter. But not as big of one as the ones I listed.