Did Syd Barrett consult star charts for 'Astronomy Domine'?

No one has ever found a specific astronomy textbook or star chart that Syd Barrett cribbed from for “Astronomy Domine.” He was a painter and art student, not an astrophysics major, and the lyrics feel like someone who’d just read a Time-Life space book and then let his imagination run wild. The line “Jupiter is bigger than a red sun” is factually shaky (a red supergiant can dwarf Jupiter), but it nails the feel of a kid blurting out cosmic trivia after staring at a diagram.

Barrett balanced science and surrealism the way a collage artist does: he grabbed recognizable names (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus) and then tossed in nonsense that somehow made space feel stranger and more alive—“crimson and blue,” “the stars are a pizza,” a countdown that sounds like a rocket launch filtered through a dream. The astronomical references act as anchors, keeping the song from floating away entirely, while the surreal imagery provides the actual fuel. It’s less about accuracy and more about creating a playground where astronomy and psychedelia can trade places.