Accuracy of Figures Quoted in The Lyrics
Eric Idle sings that the Earth is "revolving at nine hundred miles an hour"; the actual figure (at the equator) is 1,038. He gives the Earth's orbital speed as 19 miles (31 km) per second, compared with the real figure of 18 to 18.5.
Idle states that the Sun is "the source of all our power". In fact, three notable sources of electrical power are not directly traceable to the Sun: The first is Geothermal power, which is derived from Geothermal energy, 20% of which remains from the original planet formation and 80% of which is derived from ongoing radioactive decay. The second source is the Moon's effects on tides and the associated method of power generation. The third is Nuclear power derived from Uranium and other fissile elements. Ultimately, however, the overwhelming proportion of human-generated power derived from fossil fuels and thence from photosynthetic plants makes this line a very good approximation to the truth. Even these power sources, however, are available only because of the Sun's influence on our early solar system, so Idle's statement is correct in a literal (if somewhat pedantic) sense even if not for practical purposes.
Idle's figures for the size of the Milky Way galaxy are roughly correct. He understates the speed at which the Sun orbits the "galactic central point", but he gives a good estimate for the total time per orbit ("two hundred million years" according to the song, compared with accepted figures of 220 to 250 million years).
The song goes on to say that we are "thirty thousand light years from galactic central point". In fact, the Sun is more like 25 000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way. It also states that the galaxy is "a hundred thousand light years side to side". This would make the galactic radius 50 000 light years, which is accurate.
Australian astrophysicist Bryan Gaensler has even stated that Eric's estimation of the thickness of the Milky Way, at 16,000 light years, is more accurate than the official 'textbook' figure of 6,000 light years. However, the song's position on this has now been confused by Eric's recent performance of the song which forms part of his Not the Messiah show where the figure he sings is only 6,000 light years. The reason for the confusion has since been explained in a message from Eric on the official Monty Python website, Pythonline.com:
"...There was some smug website pulling apart all my original figures for the song (written circa 1981) so for the 2003 Tour (or maybe 2000) I "updated" them. Now you tell me I was right all along! Not sure where I got my figures originally but tell the bastards to make up their minds."
The ultimate verse explains that the universe is expanding, and furthermore that the speed of light is the "fastest speed there is". Idle's estimate is a good one: 12 million miles per minute, versus the standard figure of about 11.16 million miles per minute.
Read more about this topic: Galaxy Song
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