I am always seeing estimates of the percentage of stars which might have a planetary system surrounding them. (Current estimates range from 20% to 50%) I think they are all wrong.
I suspect it will eventually be realized that star formation includes planet formation just as surely as dropping a big rock into sloppy mud creates a surrounding pattern of splatter. Planets may be considered almost a part of a star. Beyond the chromosphere and the corona is the "planetsphere".
So, I strongly suspect the percentage of stars with a planetary system is 100%- with the possible exception of some stars which went through some cataclysmic event that stripped them away from their planets. (What percentage of humans have a head?)
Now, how many of those stars have a planet (or more) where life develops, and how likely is it for sapience to arise in those biospheres? The answers may turn out to be just as obvious.
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I hope you keep us up to date on Zippo's response. This is interesting indeed.
ReplyDeleteI got the repaired lighter today.
ReplyDeleteIt had languished at the post office since Friday (I got the notice I had a package that had to be signed for after the p.o. closed for the day, and our p.o. has no Saturday hours- then there was the "holiday"...)