>From Terry: > On 10/23/06, OrionWorks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > "You mean all the atoms in my body are made up of electrons > > spinning around a nucleus," Otter exclaims "just like a miniature solar > > system?" > > On the other hand: > > http://www.gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/astro/music/galaxy.mp3 > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2163133 > > Terry
Ah yes! Another Classic. "We need your liver!" I loved Erik's Galaxy Song too. However, the rather stuffy explanation: "Assuming we are 25,000 light years from the centre of the galaxy, then the path taken by the sun as it orbits the centre is given by the formula for the circumference of a circle: 2?r = 157,000 light years. As one light year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 km, and the sun moves at 220 km/s, this all works out to an orbital period of roughly 215-million years. Perfect." ...may not be as accurate as we have all assumed. There is a controversial theory called "MOND" (Modified Newtonian dynamics) having to do with the correction of acceleration anomalies known to exist on galactic scales. It's possible MOND or some variation of it may ultimately turn Newton's revered square law of gravitation upside down, and in the process possibly the eventually dismissal of most if not all of that mysterious DARK MATTER that physicists and astronomers love to pontificate endlessly over, a huge chuck of "matter" that has yet to be proven to actually exist. Can you spell "f u d g e f a c t o r"? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_Newtonian_Dynamics PS: My most sincere apologies to "Pinto." I think "Otter" I believe was possibly considering switching majors from pre-law to pre-med, so that he could eventually become a gynecologists based in Beverley Hills. "Can it talk?" Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.Zazzle.com/orionworks
