NATS 1880 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Disk Array, Nikolai Kardashev, Big Bang
30 Mar 2014
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Drake equation: simple equation that is used to summarize the factors that would determine the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy. Nhp = number of habitiable planets in our galaxy. F life= fraction of habitable planets that have life. Fciv= fraction of the life-bearing planets with civilization capable of interstellar communication. Nhp x flife x f civ = number of civilizations capable of interstellar communication. Fnow is the fraction of civilization bearing planets that happen to have civilization now. Nhp= number of habitable planets on which life can evolve. Flife =fraction of habitable planets in our galaxy that have life (close to 1) Fciv=fraction of life bearing planets on which a civilization capable of interstellar communication has arisen at some time. Fnow= fraction of these civ that happened to exist now. The discussion is limited to the milky way (our own galaxy) since there are 100 billion galaxies.
