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Matteo Cantiello edited Parameters.tex
about 10 years ago
Commit id: 4b4a1a502cbda45f39178978db3dbdc04c347542
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diff --git a/Parameters.tex b/Parameters.tex
index 19cf634..084fbdd 100644
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Back in the days only $R$ is the
rate \textbf{rate of star
formation $R$ was known, formation}, telling how many stars are born every year in our Galaxy. This number is about 10 and might seem quite small, but the Galaxy is about 10 billion years old, so plenty of stars have born (and died) in the
meanwhile. meanwhile.\\
$R\approx 10$
The other terms in the Drake equation were not known in 1961. Actually till the early '90s we didn't even know if planets were a unique feature of the Solar system. The problem is that if life was impossible around stars noone would know it. Having one data point, the Earth, doesn't give any statistical information: the solar system could well be an extremely unlikely, or even unique, place in the Universe. As soon as you ask the question "Are we alone?" it means you are alive and conscious, i.e. you are in a sweet-spot, and you can not make any claim about how common that might be. Beside the fact that one such place exists. The cool thing is that, statistically speaking, finding just another place where life can be supported around another star changes everything. And this is where it gets exciting.