Expert: Steven LJ Russo - 3/15/2005

Question
Sir, please forgive the following, pehaps convoluted question but here goes, as the earth rotates at a smart clip, lets call the speed with regaurd to some hypothetical point ( X) while it scoots around the sun at some ludicrous speed ( Y) which i'm guessing is movin along with the rest of the system as part of the spiral arm ( Z), at some point,using say the center of the milky way as a point from which to measure could all these speeds be added togeather so that X+Y+Z= the speed i'm going when i'm standing still? would this number have any real meaning, that is could it be measured in mph or such or do ya have ta get all megagoogly to explain it, also is Z is so fast that it makes X and Y irrelevant. i have other stupid questions about super massive black holes, singularitys n the like but i promise to direct these burning inquires elsewhere if ya could just help with the speed question, thanks fer your time.

Answer
Mike:

I actually know this off the top of my head, as someone actualy figured all of this out decades ago.  If you take the speed of the Earth's rotation, and combine it with our Revolution around the Sun, the Solar System around the Milky Way, and the Milky Way travelling through space, the speed comes out to a shde under a million miles per hour.

If I remember correctly, the "exact" speed at which you are moving right now is 811,000 mph.

And yes, the Black Hole/Singularity is a bit out of my expertise area.

Steve