06-28-2018, 07:05 AM
I am fairly sure that Jovian worlds are more common than Earth-like worlds. Gas giants and terrestrial worlds appear to be roughly equal in frequency, but only a fraction of terrestrials are Earth-like.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible that there is a special class of gas giant that is more hospitable to life than a typical gas giant, so maybe gas giant biospheres are rarer than I expect. One problem with life in a gas giant is that the environment does not seem to hold many suitable environments for abiogenesis. I've suggested elsewhere that most gas giants are actually seeded by local panspermia, so the incidence of jovian biospheres may be highly dependent on the incidence of life-bearing jovian moons.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible that there is a special class of gas giant that is more hospitable to life than a typical gas giant, so maybe gas giant biospheres are rarer than I expect. One problem with life in a gas giant is that the environment does not seem to hold many suitable environments for abiogenesis. I've suggested elsewhere that most gas giants are actually seeded by local panspermia, so the incidence of jovian biospheres may be highly dependent on the incidence of life-bearing jovian moons.