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Star Trek: Voyager

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Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series. It was created by Rick Berman , Michael Piller , and Jeri Taylor , and ran on UPN , as the network's first ever series, for seven seasons in the USA , from 1995 to 2001 . In some areas without local access to UPN, it was offered to independent stations through Paramount Pictures , for its first six seasons. The series is best known for its familial crew, science fiction based plots, engaging action sequences, and light humor. The writers often noted that many episodes had underlying themes and messages or were metaphors for current social issues. This is the first Star Trek series to feature a female captain in a leading role. However, Kathryn Janeway herself is not the first female captain to be seen within Star Trek as a whole. Additionally, the show gained in popularity for its storylines which frequently featured the Borg . Voyager follows the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation and ran alongside Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during its first five seasons.

• Main Title Theme  file info (composed by Jerry Goldsmith )
• 1 Series summary
• 2 Distinguishing Voyager
• 3 Reception
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 5 Executive producers
• 6 Opening credits
• 7.1 Season 1
• 7.2 Season 2
• 7.3 Season 3
• 7.4 Season 4
• 7.5 Season 5
• 7.6 Season 6
• 7.7 Season 7
• 8 Related topics
• 9 Syndication
• 11 External links

Series summary [ ]

Launched in the year 2371 , the Intrepid -class Federation starship USS Voyager was a ship built to return to Starfleet 's founding principle of scientific exploration. It was fitting that the ship's captain , Kathryn Janeway , rose up through the science ranks rather than command. On the ship's first mission while departing the space station Deep Space 9 , which required it to find and capture a Maquis vessel that disappeared into the treacherous Badlands , the crew of Voyager , as well as that of the Maquis ship it was pursuing, were swept clear across the galaxy and deep into the Delta Quadrant . This was the doing of a powerful alien being known as the Caretaker . The seventy thousand light year transit cost the lives of over a dozen crew members. Captain Janeway was forced to destroy the massive alien array that housed the remains of the Caretaker. In doing so, she saved an alien race, the Ocampa , but stranded Voyager and the crew in the Delta Quadrant.

United in a common purpose, the surviving Maquis rebels joined with Janeway's Starfleet-trained crew on Voyager . Though a journey back to the Alpha Quadrant would have taken more than seventy years through unknown and treacherous territory , the crew of Voyager was well served by Janeway's skilled leadership and their own steadfast determination. Ultimately, Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant in seven years.

The crew's journey home was eventful. Voyager made first contact with over four hundred completely new species in the Delta Quadrant, discovered links to Earth 's early space exploration history , utilized and even pioneered new technologies, all the while engaging in countless other adventures. (" Distant Origin ")

The crew encountered species ranging from the violent and ruthless Kazon , the Phage -afflicted Vidiians , the colorful Talaxians and the ephemeral Ocampa . The crew's other encounters included run-ins with the temporal sophistication of the Krenim , the predatory Hirogen , the toxic Malon and the scheming Hierarchy . The crew picked up passengers along the way, including the wily but extremely resourceful Talaxian Neelix (who served, at times, as Voyager 's ambassador , morale officer , and even head chef ), along with the Ocampan telepath Kes (who, as a parting gift to the crew, used her powers of telekinesis to thrust Voyager 9,500 light years closer to the Alpha Quadrant).

Most memorable, however, were Voyager 's repeated clashes with the dreaded Borg . While each encounter posed grave danger, Voyager was able to prevail every time. At one point, Janeway actually negotiated a temporary peace with the Borg when they perceived a common threat in a mysterious alien species from fluidic space . (" Scorpion ") At other times, she was able to liberate drones from the Borg Collective , including Seven of Nine (who became a permanent member of the crew), Mezoti , Azan , Rebi , and Icheb . Other instances pitted Voyager against not only the Borg, but also against the nightmarish Borg Queen herself.

Several years after Voyager 's disappearance into the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet Command learned of the starship's fate. Subsequently, the Pathfinder Project was created, a Starfleet Communications project that attempted to communicate with Voyager through the MIDAS array , via a micro-wormhole and the Hirogen communications network . Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of Lieutenant Reginald Barclay , the communications technology improved to a level whereby contact could be made on a regular basis. In 2377 , the crew was able to receive monthly data streams from Earth that included letters from the crew's families, tactical upgrades, and news about the Alpha Quadrant.

By the end of the year, Voyager made a triumphant return to the Alpha Quadrant, under the guidance of Starfleet and the Pathfinder Project, by utilizing and then destroying a Borg transwarp hub , and after a turbulent trip, a celebration was held in honor of Voyager 's return back home.

Distinguishing Voyager [ ]

Despite the general prosperity of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Paramount pressured Rick Berman for yet another Star Trek television series. Although it was decided very early on that the new series would be set aboard a starship once again, it was important for the writers to vary the series from Star Trek: The Next Generation in other ways. Berman stated, " When Voyager came around and we knew we were going to place the next series back on a starship we wanted to do it in a way that was not going to be that redundant when it came to The Next Generation . So we had a certain amount of conflict on the ship because of the Maquis. We had a different dynamic because we were not speaking every day to Starfleet and because we had a female captain. Those were the major differences that set this show apart from the others… It had the core belief of what Star Trek was all about, both in terms of the excitement and the action and in terms of the provocative elements of ideas that Star Trek has always been known to present to the audience. " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion , p. ? )

The series' premise of being lost in deep space was itself a variation on a theme explored in The Next Generation . Michael Piller explained, " We remembered the episodes, many episodes, where Q would show up and throw one of our ships or one of our people off to a strange part of the universe. And we'd have to figure out why we were there, how we were going to get back, and ultimately – by the end of an episode – we'd get back home. But […] we started to talk about what would happen if we didn't get home. That appealed to us a great deal […] You have to understand that Rick, Jeri and I had no interest in simply putting a bunch of people on another ship and sending them out to explore the universe. We wanted to bring something new to the Gene Roddenberry universe. The fans would have been the first people to criticize us if we had not brought something new to it. But everything new, everything was… a challenge, in the early stages of development of Voyager." ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

Jeri Taylor concurred that Voyager had to be different from its predecessors. She stated, " We felt a need to create an avenue for new and fresh storytelling. We are forced into creating a new universe. We have to come up with new aliens, we have to come up with new situations. " Taylor also recalled, " We knew we were taking some risks. We decided, in a very calculated way, to cut our ties with everything that was familiar. This is a dangerous thing to do. There is no more Starfleet, there are no more admirals to tell us what we can and cannot do, there are no Romulans, there are no Klingons, there are no Ferengi, no Cardassians. All those wonderful array of villains that the audience has come to love and hate at the same time will no longer be there. This is a tricky thing to do. " ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

Differentiating the new series from what had gone before hardened the challenge of inventing the series' main characters. Jeri Taylor recounted, " It took a long, long time, it took us weeks and weeks and weeks, even to come up with a cast of characters, because we found that so many wonderful characters had already been done and we didn't want to exactly repeat ourselves. We'd come up with an idea then say, 'No, that's too much like Data ,' or, 'That's too much like Odo ,' or, 'That's too much like Worf .' So to try to find the right balance of characters, in terms of gender and alien species and that kind of thing, really took a long time. " ("Braving the Unknown: Season 1", VOY Season 1 DVD special features)

↑ John Van Citters listed "VGR" as the series' official abbreviation when announcing the "DSC" abbreviation for Star Trek: Discovery . [1] MA , among other venues, will continue to use the abbreviation VOY for Voyager , for historical reasons.

Reception [ ]

During its seven-year run, Star Trek: Voyager was nominated for 34 Emmy Awards , mostly in "technical" categories such as visual effects and makeup. It won seven, including "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music" for Jerry Goldsmith 's theme.

Main cast [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
• Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
• Jennifer Lien as Kes ( 1995 - 1997 )
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine ( 1997 - 2001 )
• Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Executive producers [ ]

• Rick Berman – Executive Producer
• Michael Piller – Executive Producer (1995-1996)
• Jeri Taylor – Executive Producer (1995-1998)
• Brannon Braga – Executive Producer (1998-2000)
• Kenneth Biller – Executive Producer (2000-2001)

Opening credits [ ]

The opening credits for Star Trek: Voyager contained imagery of USS Voyager passing near various spatial phenomena.

Episode list [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

Season 1 , 15 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

Season 2 , 26 episodes:

Season 3 [ ]

Season 3 , 26 episodes:

Season 4 [ ]

Season 4 , 26 episodes:

Season 5 [ ]

Season 5 , 25 episodes:

Season 6 [ ]

Season 6 , 26 episodes:

Season 7 [ ]

Season 7 , 24 episodes:

Related topics [ ]

• VOY directors
• VOY performers
• VOY recurring characters
• VOY studio models
• VOY writers
• Recurring characters
• Character crossover appearances
• Undeveloped VOY episodes
• Paramount Stage 8
• Paramount Stage 9
• Paramount Stage 16

Syndication [ ]

With five seasons, Voyager reached syndication in some markets airing in a daily strip on weekdays in most markets or as a weekly strip on weekends in selected markets, with the first cycle of episodes from the first five seasons began airing on 13 September 1999 , with the second cycle of episodes covering the 25 episodes of Season 6 and the final episode of Season 5 beginning on 13 November 2000 and the final cycle of episodes covering episodes of the final season and the final episode of Season 6 beginning on 25 October 2001 . Voyager was broadcast in syndication for four years until 12 September 2003 , with some stations continuing to carry Voyager after leaving syndication.

• Star Trek: Voyager novels
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (IDW)
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (Malibu)
• Star Trek: Voyager comics (Marvel)
• Star Trek: Voyager soundtracks
• Star Trek: Voyager on VHS
• Star Trek: Voyager on LaserDisc
• Star Trek: Voyager on DVD

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: Voyager at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: Voyager at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Voyager at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Voyager at TV IV
• Star Trek: Voyager at StarTrek.com
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 2 Jamaharon

Brilliant Maps

Making Sense Of The World, One Map At A Time

Star Trek Map Of The Alpha & Beta Quadrants

The map above is Shakaar’s Alpha/Beta map v3.3; a fan-made creation showing the Alpha and Beta quadrants of the Star Trek universe.

The map shows both major and minor powers that have appeared in the various series over the years.

At the centre is the United Federation of Planets, which borders the major power of the Klingon Empire, Roman Star Empire and the Cardassian Union. More minor powers include the Breen, Ferengi Alliance, Tholian Assembly, Sheliak Corporate and the Gorn Hegemony among many, many others.

The map highlights:

• Principal Systems
• Minor Systems
• Non-Aligned Systems
• Dead Systems
• Government Borders
• Points of Interest
• Navigation Hazards
• Star Clusters
• Stations or Starbases

For more Star Trek maps see:

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• Star Trek Star Charts: The Complete Atlas of Star Trek
• Star Trek Maps

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December 13, 2017 at 8:14 pm

I know that: a) it’s a bit of fun b) it’s hard to make a 2d map of 3d space and c) there no official maps to go off

But Christ, there’s a lot of stuff on here which makes no sense.

Justin Spaulding says

September 7, 2019 at 2:36 am

Isn’t gamma haromi 2 supposed to be in the haromi cluster…. Good effort though! S3. E8 I think. The “gatherers”

Danny Beans says

November 11, 2019 at 11:18 pm

Why are Ceti Alpha V and Ceti Alpha VI in completely different sectors? I mean, okay, Chekov can be a little dumb sometimes, but that’s one helluva mistake to make.

Jadziah Dax says

April 7, 2021 at 6:03 pm

Can’t wait to see the one you do!

petewinsemiusyahoocom says

November 23, 2022 at 3:47 pm

I agree, several planets said to be in the alpha quadrant are in the beta quadrant and vice versa or not listed at all.

Resolute_Phoenix says

February 8, 2018 at 11:41 pm

Okay so Xindus by Vulcan…. kys I’m not even gona bother looking further don’t make a map if you don’t know what your talking about

February 18, 2019 at 9:03 pm

Romulons should have Dyson sphere (at least at Romulus and Remus). Their ship tech is based on creating black holes which will give a ship a reactor core with a life of a handful of years BUT it’s just like an inefficient battery because it takes way more energy to initially create it then it will give off over its life BUT it’s portable. Sure beats light sails if your depending on home system energy and way more flexible too. This was their tech wheelhouse, and was their interstellar travel energy source instead of antimatter. It makes total sense for them to have harnessed the majority of their native suns energy to create reactor cores wherever they needed a portable energy that couldn’t tap into the system wide grid.

February 22, 2019 at 9:26 pm

A few questions… 1) Why are there several Indus VIII on the map?, 2) I do not see the First Federation on this map — they should be near the Ferengi!, 3) Where is the Kelvin planet? (The planet colonized by the Kelvins from “By Any Other Name”), 4) Maybe I’m wrong, but I do not see the Dyson Sphere that TNG crew ran into?

Shane Montgomery says

March 4, 2020 at 10:25 pm

I don’t see Barzan II or the Barzan Wormhole here?

Pickard says

January 23, 2021 at 3:39 pm

They are there. Literally the only Dyson sphere symbol near the bottom.

Jonathan Dumire says

September 7, 2023 at 2:29 am

There are 2 Cygnet XIV on the map as well

August 6, 2019 at 5:03 pm

Spock: He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking.

Glenn Bryson says

November 15, 2019 at 6:52 pm

Not your fault, I know;

Vulcan is “Supposed” to be “A little over sixteen” light years from earth. Yet the map has it at around 1000. That’s one of my biggest gripes about Star Trek (I absolutely love Star Trek, don’t get me wrong). Distances and travel times are so inconsistent and unrealistic based on the documented scales, maps, etc.

March 14, 2020 at 11:46 pm

Did you mean Starbase 375 instead of 395? As in the starbase from S6 of DS9 after the Dominion took over the station?

Avro Arrow says

March 24, 2020 at 7:04 pm

I love this map, especially how you have the Hydran Kingdom, the Lyran Star Empire and the Kzinti Hegemony are listed (where is the Interstellar Concordium?). I have one small nit-pick to make and that is you have two systems named “Nelvana III”. They’re both in the upspin Beta quadrant but one is in the Romulan Neutral Zone and the other is further upspin and outward (left). I think that you might consider making most of the empty space that is coreward of Klingon and Romulan space into the ISC. They were referred to as being a Galactic Superpower residing on the far side of both those Empires (so, coreward).

Gray.Elton says

May 19, 2020 at 3:21 am

If we do or don’t do it, someone will laugh

July 15, 2020 at 1:53 am

I dont understand how this can be called a map of the star trek galaxy when there isnt even a spot or indication of where earth is. Who makes a map without earth when you have a series where its location is based on earth. In the series they refer to Earth as Earth. Yet the closes thing to it is on the map is Volcan. Y not add Earth as well? If there is an alternative name how come it’s never mentioned in the shows and a secret for fans?

Brandon says

August 15, 2020 at 4:14 pm

Earth is 100 percent there. It’s Sol. It’s a common alternate name for our star system and has been used in Trek.

February 8, 2021 at 3:26 pm

Sol system. The Greek word for sun. Follow the bold line and look for the team Terran and Vulcan sectors. Sol is on the 4 corners there

May 23, 2021 at 11:35 pm

Cheron is not in the Romulan sphere of influence. It is located in the “Southern most part of the Galaxy”, Captain Kirk. Episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”

That dude says

September 6, 2021 at 5:31 am

Issues: Tykens rift, not Titans. Starbase 47 is about 10 sectors off as memory Beta says it is located between the Tholian assembly and the Klingon empire. Prophets Landing is in the gamma quadrant.

That’s all for now!

That Guy says

May 17, 2022 at 11:20 pm

Alpha Onias III is on here multiple times

John S says

November 16, 2022 at 4:31 am

Don’t the Klingon and Cardassian Empires border each other? A lot of DS9 s4 doesn’t make sense if they don’t…

martijn says

March 18, 2023 at 11:16 pm

where is earth ?

Your Mom says

May 29, 2023 at 2:05 am

You’ve got 2 Nelvana III.

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Published Aug 15, 2014

Voyager's Journey

With Star Trek Online ’s Delta Rising, the team looked to the fateful journey of the U.S.S. Voyager for inspiration.

U.S.S. Voyager traveled more than 70,000 light years in seven years to return to Earth. This trek took Voyager across the entire Delta Quadrant, from the deserts of Ocampa’s blasted surface to the asteroid base used by Talaxian exiles eager to build a new life. Along the way, they encountered dozens of species – some friends, but many foes.

Because this is a huge area of space to cover, the team at Cryptic looked at the stories they wanted to tell when choosing which areas of the Delta Quadrant to include in Delta Rising. We ultimately picked an area starting near the Nekrit Expanse (seen in “Unity”) and extending toward the Alpha Quadrant.

In this area, we follow along Voyager’s journey, meeting species they encountered including the Kazon, Talaxians, Ocampa, Hirogen and Benthans. Among the dozens of locations Delta Rising visits are the Northwest Passage, seen in “Scorpion,” and the homeworld of the Kobali, a species first seen in “Ashes to Ashes.”

A lot has changed in the Delta Quadrant since Voyager’s time. It’s been 32 years since Kathryn Janeway and her crew left, and alliances and empires have risen and fallen over the years. The Voth, stung by the punishing fight in the Solanae Dyson sphere, have pulled back to their own space, but still maintain alliances with non-mammalian species they can almost see as equals.

The Borg have their own problems. Their invasion of the Alpha Quadrant has taxed their resources to the limit, and the loss of a unimatrix was a major setback. The Cooperative is taking advantage of this temporary respite to attempt to liberate more drones from the Collective, and they’ve allied with other groups of liberated Borg to help them succeed.

The Benthan Guard has expanded their range, and is attempting to bring law and order to an increasingly dangerous area of space. But the rise of a mysterious fleet is causing them, and all the species of the Delta Quadrant, reason to be concerned. This fleet attacks without warning, slipping past planetary defense grids and destroying defending ships with ease. Rumors say several of the powers of the Delta Quadrant have already fallen to these foes, and Admiral Tuvok and U.S.S. Voyager have been dispatched to the area to learn more.

Joining the fun at Star Trek Online is easy and free. Just visit startrekonline.com , register for a free account and then download and install the game. Once you've done that, just log in with your new account and you're ready to discover the entire Star Trek Online universe.

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Star Trek: Voyager

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

• Rick Berman
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• Jeri Taylor
• Kate Mulgrew
• Robert Beltran
• Roxann Dawson
• 429 User reviews
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• 33 wins & 84 nominations total

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• Cmdr. Chakotay …

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• Lt. Tom Paris …

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• Ensign Harry Kim …

• Lt. Ayala …

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• Trivia When auditioning for the part of the holographic doctor, Robert Picardo was asked to say the line "Somebody forgot to turn off my program." He did so, then ad-libbed "I'm a doctor, not a light bulb" and got the part.
• Goofs There is speculation that the way the Ocampa are shown to have offspring is an impossible situation, as a species where the female can only have offspring at one event in her life would half in population every generation, even if every single member had offspring. While Ocampa females can only become pregnant once in their lifetime, if was never stated how many children could be born at one time. Kes mentions having an uncle, implying that multiple births from one pregnancy are possible.

Seven of Nine : Fun will now commence.

• Alternate versions Several episodes, such as the show's debut and finale, were originally aired as 2-hour TV-movies. For syndication, these episodes were reedited into two-part episodes to fit one-hour timeslots.
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (1999)

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Hubble Provides Interstellar Road Map for Voyagers’ Galactic Trek

NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft are hurtling through unexplored territory on their road trip beyond our solar system. Along the way, they are measuring the interstellar medium, the mysterious environment between stars. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is providing the road map – by measuring the material along the probes’ future trajectories. Even after the Voyagers run out of electrical power and are unable to send back new data, which may happen in about a decade, astronomers can use Hubble observations to characterize the environment through which these silent ambassadors will glide.

A preliminary analysis of the Hubble observations reveals a rich, complex interstellar ecology, containing multiple clouds of hydrogen laced with other elements. Hubble data, combined with the Voyagers, have also provided new insights into how our sun travels through interstellar space.

“This is a great opportunity to compare data from in situ measurements of the space environment by the Voyager spacecraft and telescopic measurements by Hubble,” said study leader Seth Redfield of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. “The Voyagers are sampling tiny regions as they plow through space at roughly 38,000 miles per hour. But we have no idea if these small areas are typical or rare. The Hubble observations give us a broader view because the telescope is looking along a longer and wider path. So Hubble gives context to what each Voyager is passing through.”

The astronomers hope that the Hubble observations will help them characterize the physical properties of the local interstellar medium. “Ideally, synthesizing these insights with in situ measurements from Voyager would provide an unprecedented overview of the local interstellar environment,” said Hubble team member Julia Zachary of Wesleyan University.

The team’s results will be presented Jan. 6 at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas.

NASA launched the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in 1977. Both explored the outer planets Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune.

The pioneering Voyager spacecraft are currently exploring the outermost edge of the sun’s domain . Voyager 1 is now zooming through interstellar space, the region between the stars that is filled with gas, dust, and material recycled from dying stars.

Voyager 1 is 13 billion miles from Earth, making it the farthest human-made object ever built. In about 40,000 years, after the spacecraft will no longer be operational and will not be able to gather new data, it will pass within 1.6 light-years of the star Gliese 445, in the constellation Camelopardalis. Its twin, Voyager 2, is 10.5 billion miles from Earth, and will pass 1.7 light-years from the star Ross 248 in about 40,000 years.

For the next 10 years, the Voyagers will be making measurements of interstellar material, magnetic fields and cosmic rays along their trajectories. Hubble complements the Voyagers’ observations by gazing at two sight lines along each spacecraft’s path to map interstellar structure along their star-bound routes. Each sight line stretches several light-years to nearby stars. Sampling the light from those stars, Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph measures how interstellar material absorbs some of the starlight, leaving telltale spectral fingerprints.

Hubble found that Voyager 2 will move out of the interstellar cloud that surrounds the solar system in a couple thousand years. The astronomers, based on Hubble data, predict that the spacecraft will spend 90,000 years in a second cloud and pass into a third interstellar cloud.

An inventory of the clouds’ composition reveals slight variations in the abundances of the chemical elements contained in the structures. “These variations could mean the clouds formed in different ways, or from different areas, and then came together,” Redfield said.

An initial look at the Hubble data also suggests that the sun is passing through clumpier material in nearby space, which may affect the heliosphere, the large bubble containing our solar system that is produced by our sun’s powerful solar wind. At its boundary, called the heliopause, the solar wind pushes outward against the interstellar medium. Hubble and Voyager 1 made measurements of the interstellar environment beyond this boundary, where the wind comes from stars other than our sun.

“I’m really intrigued by the interaction between stars and the interstellar environment,” Redfield said. “These kinds of interactions are happening around most stars, and it is a dynamic process.”

The heliosphere is compressed when the sun moves through dense material, but it expands back out when the star passes through low-density matter. This expansion and contraction is caused by the interaction between the outward pressure of the stellar wind, composed of a stream of charged particles, and the pressure of the interstellar material surrounding a star.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C. The Voyagers were built by JPL, which continues to operate both spacecraft. JPL is a division of Caltech.

For images and more information about the local interstellar medium and Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

For more information about the Voyager mission, visit: www.nasa.gov/voyager

For additional information, contact:

Felicia Chou NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 202-358-0257 [email protected]

Donna Weaver / Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 410-338-4493 / 410-338-4514 [email protected]  /  [email protected]

Elizabeth Landau Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-6425 [email protected]

Seth Redfield Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 860-685-3669 [email protected]

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Travel times, galaxy maps and Voyager's mission.

Discussion in ' General Trek Discussion ' started by Xhiandra , Aug 4, 2020 .

Xhiandra Captain Captain

(not VOY specific, please don't move) I like maps, they really help understand geopolitical situations. But Trek maps have an issue. Well, 2 issues: 1) They tend to be in 2D. Not as big a problem as could be expected, though, given how "flat" our galaxy is. 2) The sizes are too big. Or too small. To build on point 2: - It's established that Voyager's trip would've taken 70-75 years at (IIRC) maximum warp. - But maps like this show the UFP's longest distance to be about a fourth to a fifth of the distance between Kazon space (where Voyager starts) and the place where Earth is usually situated. Similar story for the Romulan Star Empire or Klingon Empire. So, that would mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to cross those areas! Making them impossible to manage. So, those maps all overestimate the size of interstellar organisations. Fine. But then, they get too small to contain all those inhabited worlds. So, how to resolve this?  

Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

The all-encompassing answer: the longer the trip, the slower the speed. Across short distances, a ship can "maximum warp" at a speed that endangers the hardware, and get serviced at the other end. Across longer distances, there are many pit stops and a steadily increasing risk of blowing up if one keeps on going. So across tens of thousands of lightyears, one travels at a "maximum warp" of around sixish, which indeed takes decades. Across mere dozens of lightyears, one goes warp 9.975 and gets there before the engines even get warm. We do have to accept that the UFP is thousands of lightyears across, because dialogue says so. We don't have to accept that the heroes could cover that distance in plot time, because they never do. But we do have to accept that they cover 1/10 of that with trivial ease, because we see that happen many a time - all the shows are rife with references to hundreds of lightyears being crossed. And we can't accept that things would be linear, that ten thousand lightyears would take a hundred times longer than one hundred lightyears. But we don't have to. Timo Saloniemi  

The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

Xhiandra said: ↑ So, how to resolve this? Click to expand...

Timo said: ↑ The all-encompassing answer: the longer the trip, the slower the speed. Across short distances, a ship can "maximum warp" at a speed that endangers the hardware, and get serviced at the other end. Across longer distances, there are many pit stops and a steadily increasing risk of blowing up if one keeps on going. So across tens of thousands of lightyears, one travels at a "maximum warp" of around sixish, which indeed takes decades. Across mere dozens of lightyears, one goes warp 9.975 and gets there before the engines even get warm. Click to expand...

darrenjl Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

The 2D nature of the maps doesn't show how the interstellar territories overlap each other, which has always been an issue with Star Trek in general. The Neutral Zone is always shown as a strip on screen, when in reality it would be more likely a 'wall' in space with a flat border each side. I've always thought it strange that the Federation is essentially hemmed in by several major powers; the Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians, let alone others rarely mentioned like the Sheliak and Tholians. Qo'nos and Romulus seem incredibly close to Earth, yet would resemble the central positions of their respective territories each species moved out to explore space. Perhaps Bajor and Cardassian space in three dimensional terms lies slightly above Earth on the galactic plane, with Klingon underneath, and Romulan further underneath that, leaving Earth a huge amount of space on one side to become Federation territory, given the younger age of the latter. I imagined Borg space to be less a blob of territory and more randomised lines emanating from a central core territory, where Borg ships have set a direct course and simply assimilated worlds along its path. This could explain why in Scorpion Voyager entered 'Borg space' and was then thrown ten years closer to home across it's territory, but still encountered Borg along the rest of its journey home, in that the 'ten year' section was not necessarily the main core, but a huge offshoot of it, with further tentacles reaching down into the heart of the Delta Quadrant that Voyager encountered along the rest of its journey.  

KamenRiderBlade Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

Here's the map that I have of Voyager's travels. - Based on the on-screen estimates of 75 year journey has a average cruise speed of Warp 8 assuming unlimited fuel - Warp 8 would take 68.36 years if non-stop with unlimited fuel, but given stops, repairs, exploration, etc. They probably rounded up to 75 years - That means I can guess that Warp 8 was their cruise speed assuming unlimited fuel (A VERY Unrealistic Scenario) - Galaxy Class initial Average Cruise speed was Warp 6, but later on became Warp 7 Voyager would only use higher Warp Speeds as necessary to get through more dangerous parts of space or in life threatening emergencies. No need to push the Warp Engines that hard if you have a 75 year marathon to deal with.  

Xhiandra said: ↑ I thought of that, but it's clear they're not talking warp 6 in VOY. Click to expand...

Bry_Sinclair Vice Admiral Admiral

Does the plot require a ship to be somewhere five sectors away in less than an hour? Then so shall it be! Does the plot require a ship to be the only one in the sector with no help around for days? Then so shall it be! Does the plot require a ship to be travelling for three weeks to cross a sector? Then so shall it be!  

KamenRiderBlade said: ↑ Here's the map that I have of Voyager's travels. Click to expand...

Rhodan Commander Red Shirt

While it´s not out of realm of possibillity they are isolated from the core space, why are Keremma not treated as part of Dominion on this map?  

...Also, the distances in Gamma are a bit excessive when we really have no need for them to be that big, and when our heroes generally traipse across those distances in a humble runabout. The Dominion itself can be big. It need not be as big as its bosses claim, since those are bad guys who run a rather totalitarian setup. But personally, I'd take that Gamma map and reduce it to one-third size or so. (The same with Alpha, really, probably. While the UFP is in ST:FC said to be 8,000 ly in size, thus presumably across some axis, the ends of that axis might be thin wisps on the outer edges, rather than the size of the solid blue core.) Timo Saloniemi  

MAGolding Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

Xhiandra said: ↑ (not VOY specific, please don't move) I like maps, they really help understand geopolitical situations. But Trek maps have an issue. Well, 2 issues: 1) They tend to be in 2D. Not as big a problem as could be expected, though, given how "flat" our galaxy is. 2) The sizes are too big. Or too small. To build on point 2: - It's established that Voyager's trip would've taken 70-75 years at (IIRC) maximum warp. - But maps like this show the UFP's longest distance to be about a fourth to a fifth of the distance between Kazon space (where Voyager starts) and the place where Earth is usually situated. Similar story for the Romulan Star Empire or Klingon Empire. So, that would mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to cross those areas! Making them impossible to manage. So, those maps all overestimate the size of interstellar organisations. Fine. But then, they get too small to contain all those inhabited worlds. So, how to resolve this? Click to expand...

dupersuper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

Unrelated complaint: the way most maps divide the alpha and beta quadrants on either side of Earth never made sense to me. The beta quadrant has like 6 mentions in all of on screen Trek, and the Dominions constant reference to the Federation, Klingons, Romulans as the biggest alpha quadrant powers never jibed with two and a half of them being in the beta quadrant. I much prefer the maps like this: https://external-preview.redd.it/a2...bp&s=6226e6efc18fb7e81ba1d7bfca956e5baabb3366  

alpha_leonis Captain Captain

I had a similar, very specific nitpick related to two episodes of TOS, which were right next to each other on the VHS tapes that my dad made for me when I was a kid. Therefore I frequently watched the two of them together: In "Arena", it's specifically stated that Warp 6 is the Enterprise's maximum "safe" speed for longer cruises. They managed to reach warp 8 in their pursuit of the Gorn vessel, and that was specifically described as a very dangerous velocity if sustained for any significant time. If you agree with the commonly accepted TOS scale that warp velocity = warp factor to the third power, Warp 6 would equal 216 times light speed. Then, in "Squire of Gothos", it's a specific plot point that Enterprise was 900 light years from Earth, therefore Trelane was viewing 900-year-old Earth events through his visible-light telescope. (Never mind the anachronistic references scattered throughout the episode, which is a different discussion entirely.) Thing is, 900 light years at Warp 6 if the "216" number is correct, would make a four-year trip one-way, not even counting all the other missions along the way. Let alone the return trip, which would then well exceed the length of the five-year mission. This is what convinces me that Warp Speed = the speed of plot, and any more-specific details are not worth the bother as long as the writing is okay.  

dupersuper said: ↑ Unrelated complaint: the way most maps divide the alpha and beta quadrants on either side of Earth never made sense to me. The beta quadrant has like 6 mentions in all of on screen Trek, and the Dominions constant reference to the Federation, Klingons, Romulans as the biggest alpha quadrant powers never jibed with two and a half of them being in the beta quadrant. Click to expand...

KamenRiderBlade said: ↑ Click to expand...

Orphalesion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

Xhiandra said: ↑ So, those maps all overestimate the size of interstellar organisations. Fine. But then, they get too small to contain all those inhabited worlds. Click to expand...

Orphalesion said: ↑ There is not official map, and the shows frequently just made stuff up to suit the plot, such as giving the Klingons a border with the Cardassians so that they can go to war in DS9. Click to expand...

Xhiandra said: ↑ Very nice map, and indeed the scales are much more realistic on this one. Nitpick: shouldn't Karemma space be closer to the wormhole? IIRC, it's "just outside" the wormhole, is it not? In fact, Dominion space should probably be closer to it, as well, since there is quite a bit of relatively quick travel to Dominion space and back. Click to expand...

MAGolding said: ↑ The disc of our galaxy is about 50,000 light years in radius and about 1,000 or 2,000 light years thick. Click to expand...

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• 2024 Spring Entertainment Preview

Star Trek: Discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants

Imagining the future of the future

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It’s a truth universally acknowledged that even among the greatest television shows in Star Trek history, most of them take two seasons to stop being kind of bad. Never has that been more true or more excruciating than in the case of Star Trek: Discovery .

Polygon is looking ahead to the movies, shows, and books coming soon in our Spring 2024 entertainment preview package, a weeklong special issue.

Often it felt like what Discovery was really doing in its early seasons was discovering what didn’t work. Strong performances from a great cast? That works. A Klingon design that absolutely nobody liked ? Definitely not. But despite the stumbles, Discovery season 1 had still averaged C’s and B’s with reviewers, and had built an audience and a subscriber base for Paramount Plus. On the strength of Disco ’s first season, Paramount greenlit Star Treks Picard , Lower Decks , and Prodigy , three new shows covering a huge range of ages and nostalgic tastes. And spinning out of Disco ’s second season, which introduced familiar , nostalgic characters and a brighter, more Star Trek-y tone, Paramount produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , inarguably the best new addition to the franchise since 1996.

Star Trek: Discovery crawled so that the rest of modern Trek could run... and then it started to walk. The show’s third season saw the USS Discovery and crew in the place that should have been their starting blocks: the bleeding future edge of Star Trek’s timeline. Thanks to season 3’s groundwork, season 4 became the first time that Discovery had a status quo worth returning to. In its fifth and final season, Star Trek: Discovery is finally free — free in a way that a Star Trek TV series hasn’t been in 23 years.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is such an elder statesman of the television elite that it’s easy to forget that it was daring. The show’s triumph wasn’t just that it featured a new cast of characters, but also its audaciousness in imagining the future of the future — and making that future unmistakably different . The Original Series showed a racial and national cooperation that seemed fantastical in its time, with an alien crewmember to denote the next frontier of embracing the other . Next Generation saw that bet and raised it, installing a member of the Klingon species, the Federation’s once-feared imperialist rival state, as a respected officer on the bridge of Starfleet’s flagship.

Next Generation ’s time period — one century after Kirk’s Enterprise — wasn’t a nominal choice, but a commitment to moving the story of Star Trek forward. From the show’s foundations, Gene Roddenberry and his collaborators, new and old, set a precedent that the Federation would evolve. Therefore, in accordance with the utopian themes of the franchise, old enemies would in time become friends. Next Generation embraced The Original Series ’ nemeses and the rest of ’90s Trek saw that bet and raised it again, pulling many of Next Gen ’s villains into the heroic fold. Voyager welcomed a Borg crewmember and disincorporated the Borg empire; Deep Space Nine gave the franchise the first Ferengi Starfleet cadet, and brokered a Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance in the face of an existential threat.

But Discovery — at least until it made its Olympic long-jump leap 900 years into the future — couldn’t move Star Trek forward. So long as it was set “immediately before Kirk’s Enterprise,” hemmed in by the constraints of a previously established era of Star Trek history, it could graft on new elements (like Spock’s secret human foster sister) but it couldn’t create from whole cloth (like a galaxy-wide shortage of starship fuel that nearly destroyed the Federation). Like its predecessor, the ill-fated Star Trek: Enterprise of the ’00s, it was doomed to hang like a remora on the side of the events of The Original Series , or, if you’ll pardon another fish metaphor, doomed like a goldfish that can only grow as large as its half-gallon fishbowl will allow.

Discovery ’s later, free seasons in the 32nd century have shown the Federation at its most vulnerable, a subtler echo of Picard ’s own season 1 swing at fallen institutions . (Fans of Voyager and Deep Space Nine know that this is an extremely rich vein of Trek storytelling.) In its third season, Discovery solved a galaxy-wide fuel crisis that had shattered the community of the Federation. In its fourth it fought for a fragile new Federation alliance and its millennia-old ideals.

And those seasons have also boldly committed to the idea of imagining the future’s future — 900 years of it. The centuries-old rift between Vulcans and Romulans is long healed, Ferengi serve as captains in Starfleet, the work of Doctor Noonien Soong has brought new medical technologies to the fore.

Even still, Discovery hasn’t been truly free in its third and fourth seasons. Star Trek: Picard was out there, forming new past elements of a post- Next Gen / Voy / DS9 era that Discovery had to abide by. And, after all, the show still had to make sure there was something for its own next season to come back to.

But now — with Prodigy and Picard finished, and Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks locked into their settings of Star Trek’s established past, and Starfleet Academy and Section 31 not yet in production at the time that its final season would have been written — Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show. If you’re a Star Trek fan, that should excite you.

Not since Deep Space Nine in 1999 and Voyager in 2001 has a Star Trek series had the freedom to wrap up its run with the Federation in any state it wants to. With franchise flagship Next Generation at an end, and Voyager restricted to the Delta Quadrant only, Deep Space Nine used its last seasons to throw the Federation into all-out war, making sweeping changes to the established ficto-political norms of ’90s Trek. Voyager used its finale to do what Captain Picard never could: defang the Borg (mostly).

We don’t know exactly what Discovery will do with that freedom. Season 4 directors have talked about reaching “ into the past to get further into the future ,” and likened it to Indiana Jones. Official news releases have said the crew will “uncover a mystery that sends them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.” But speculating on what that means would be beside the point.

Discovery , the show about an intergalactically teleporting starship, can finally, actually, go anywhere. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since a beloved Star Trek series was so free to boldly go. Let’s hope they’re very bold indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres with two episodes on April 4 on Paramount Plus.

Spring 2024 entertainment preview

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Den of Geek

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 8 Review – Labyrinths

The Discovery crew is on the hunt for the Progenitors' final puzzle piece in the library of our dreams, but to find it Michael must first look inward.

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This Star Trek: Discovery review contains spoilers.

Having fun isn’t hard if you’ve got a library card on the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery , which sees Captain Michael Burnham and company visit the Eternal Gallery and Archive, a mobile knowledge bank that is, hands down, the absolute coolest of the five locations we’ve visited on this season-long clue hunt. To be fair, “Labyrinths” isn’t an episode where all that much happens, but its premise still makes for a surprisingly satisfying hour, and the slow-moving approach of the Breen adds some nice tension to Michael’s vision quest into her own psyche. 

Full of one-of-a-kind manuscripts, rare artifacts, and other priceless items from cultures both present and lost, the Archive is exactly the kind of location that fits the adventure-themed feel of the season. It also looks cool as hell, packed to the gills with books and viewing rooms holding various priceless items from long-dead cultures. Arriving within it basically feels like the sci-fi version of that bit from Beauty and the Beast where Belle discovers all the books she now has access to, and if someone wanted to make an entire spin-off focused on the mysteries of this place and the people who came to visit it I would be glued to the screen every week. 

The Archive is currently located in the Badlands, an area that will be intimately familiar to Star Trek fans as it has important connections to both Deep Space Nine and Voyager , though for some reason Discovery does almost nothing with that fact. (Sorry folks on the lookout for some version of a famous space station, I guess.) The still-raging plasma storms that once caused such trouble for Voyager do make the Archive more difficult to find and offer it a modicum of protection. The site is currently run by Hy’rell, an Efrosian librarian who is one of the most entertaining supporting characters Discovery has introduced in some time. Almost passive-aggressively cheerful, her relentless friendliness makes her iron spine about the Archive’s rules and mission, and it’s always fun to watch Micahel go up against someone who doesn’t immediately give her what she wants. Hy’rell feels an awful lot like the Star Trek version of The Guide from What We Do in the Shadows , is what I’m saying. (Also, I love her.) 

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Burnham uses the library card she and the crew deciphered last week to access the last remaining copy of Labyrinths of the Mind , a text left behind by Betazoid scientist Marina Derex that’s meant to point the way to the final clue to the location of the Progenitor technology. But it turns out the book itself doesn’t really have all that much to do with the final test—it’s merely a case for another card, one that, upon touch, launches a program that takes Michael into a mindscape version of the Archive’s library. There, she must find the location of the last clue to access it in the real world. Like the other tests that Burnham and the Discovery crew have encountered, it’s tied to exploring a specific facet of the participant’s worthiness to access the information they’re seeking and whether they’re the sort of person who will properly use something so powerful as whatever it is the Progenitors left behind.  

The idea that Michael finds the answer only when she admits and confronts her deepest fears—of failure, both professionally and personally, in terms of letting down those she cares about—is peak Discovery , the sort of endless navel-gazing these characters are constantly asked to engage in. On some level, this particular test might have been more interesting if someone other than Michael had been forced to take it. We’re all well acquainted with her failings and flaws at this point, and I don’t know that anyone is going to be shocked to learn that she’s got a perfectionism complex a mile wide, no matter how strong a performance Sonequa Martin-Green gives in this moment (which, by the way, is very good).

The only interesting part of this is that it finally gives us a little clarity about her feelings for Book, and how much she regrets pulling away from him. It’s a nice bit of emotional work for the romantic reunion that the show is so clearly telegraphing. Bonus points to David Ajala for pulling double duty this week as both Book and the AI administering Michael’s test, which she sees in his form. The uber-dramatic outfit and quiet sarcasm are quite fun and make for a very different vibe between the actors.

Elsewhere, the Breen are hot on Discovery’s heels, especially once Moll convinces them all that she’ll be able to resurrect L’ak once they track down the Progenitor tech. Unsurprisingly, Primark Ruhn is less enthused about restoring the life of a dead scion of the Breen Imperium than he is about finding a weapon powerful enough to allow him to claim the throne for himself, so it’s not all that much of a shock that he spends the bulk of this hour betraying and threatening people.

That he blackmails Michael into handing over the completed map is probably the least surprising thing to happen this entire season, though the idea that the hour ends with Moll killing the Primark and taking charge of his faction thanks to her role as L’ak’s wife is almost hilariously ridiculous. Thanks for making sure he didn’t destroy the Archive first though, I guess? We know so little about Moll outside of her relationship with L’ak that it’s easy for Discovery to make her character be whatever it needs to be at any particular moment, but she certainly never seemed like someone who would care all that much about the destruction of valuable cultural artifacts. (Or even innocent lives, come to that.) Oh, well, at least Hy’rell is safe!! 

With two episodes left to go in Discovery’s run, it’s anybody’s guess how this is all going to end. Oh, we can likely figure out some of it: the race to the location of the Progenitors’ supposedly life-restoring tech is on, but it’s almost certainly not going to turn out to be what any of the people chasing it expect. Will it even be real? Or is this going to be one of those stories where the journey was always more important than the destination?

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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Star Trek and Lethal Weapon actor Alan Scarfe dies aged 77 after battle with colon cancer

• Ellie Doughty , Foreign News Reporter
• Published : 8:59, 7 Jun 2024
• Updated : 13:18, 7 Jun 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

STAR Trek and Lethal Weapon actor Alan Scarfe has died aged 77.

The British-Canadian star, who also acted in the film Seven Days, died from colon cancer at home in Canada .

The 77-year-old passed away in Quebec on April 28, his family announced.

He played two separate Romulan characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Scarfe also played Magistrate Augris in Star Trek: Voyager episode, and featured in Lethal Weapon III alongside Mel Gibson .

The actor leaves behind his children including daughter Antonia "Tosia" and son-in-law Austin - who looked after him before his death.

Scarfe also has a son, Jonathan Scarfe, who works in the same industry as a film director.

He is also survived by his brother Colin and grandchildren Kai and Hunter.

The actor's obituary said he would've been "lost" without the care of Tosia and Austin in the months before he died.

Scarfe married Barbara March, a fellow Star Trek actor, who played Lursa in the iconic series.

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She also died from cancer in 2019.

Born in Harpenden, England, he emigrated to Canada with his parents and two brothers, Colin and Brian, who later died from cancer.

The actor returned to the UK to study drama at the prestigious school LAMDA.

He acted in more than 100 theatre productions and directed plays as well.

Later in life Scarfe turned to writing and won an award in 2019 for his first novel The Revelation of Jack the Ripper.

After marrying Barbara and having Tonia, the family moved to LA in 1989.

He then starred in Lethal Weapon III and Double Impact.

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1.2.1 Requirements for the Star Trek cartography

The cartography as a scientific field which is in the real world very important, too, mainly requires knowledge in mathematics, especially trigonometry and spatial geometry, and in the analysis, interpretation and graphical representation of huge amounts of data. These points are the basic requirements for the Star Trek cartography as well, although this "new" field of course has special demands. At any rate, the application of fundamental scientific methods is the basis for all other work.  Nowadays, they can often be carried out very easily with the computer, but the use of rudimentary tools is possible as well. For example, Rick Sternbach, senior illustrator and technical consultant of Star Trek: Voyager, does not need a sophisticated spreadsheet / 3D vector drawing program to calculate the course of Voyager, but marks the points of interest on usual 11'x17' paper. Sometimes, it is indeed useful (especially with maps) to illustrate things directly on a sheet of paper, however, in this project as often as possible the most accurate methods shall be applied, i.e. mathematical calculations and electronic picture and data processing. Another requirements is, of course, the exact knowledge of the data to be processed. In the case of the Star Trek cartography, this is the knowledge of all Star Trek episodes, movies and books. However, this is only a part of the special demands of the Star Trek cartography. Indeed, the real astronomy is of considerable importance; in the end, this projects mostly deals with astronomy, and even if the data basis is fictitious, cartographic and astronomical procedures are used for its evaluation. Beside special  material (celestial maps, astronomical data tables etc.), this also includes three-dimensional spatial geometry and astronomical calculations. A complete list of the used material you can find in the sources . But also the project itself contains several tables and data collections especially created for the Star Trek cartography which could prove useful for the further work. They are available in the section "Resources", while special algorithms of the Star Trek cartography you can find in "Interactive programs". After this general overview over the necessary means and methods, now the most important aspects of the Star Trek cartography shall be examined more profoundly.  

1.2.2 Distances as basis for the cartography

Because Star Trek usually does not provide us with complete maps, but at most with maps showing a mission-specific, small part of space instead of the whole explored space, we usually have to fall back on the smallest building blocks of the Star Trek cartography, with which we still have to build a complete picture of the universe: the distances given in episodes, movies and books. As soon as we have a large enough number of distances which are reciprocally associated with each other (that means for every location, the distance to every other location must be known), we can create a map based on this distances. However, the issue isn't that easy because unfortunately, we never have a complete collection of distances and our knowledge is always sketchy because of the minor significance of cartography in Star Trek. With such an open web of figures unambiguous maps are impossible at any rate, therefore we must rely on assumptions, speculations and logical premises, the second-most important corner stone of the Star Trek cartography, and have to accept that there will never be a unambiguous, not interpretable picture of the Star Trek universe, even if e.g. an official technical manual "officialises" one of the infinite possibilities some day.

The application of distances as basis for the cartographic work is even more difficult because of the fact that the sources usually do not provide us with direct figures. In fact, there are 4 different ways to determine distances from official sources (episodes, movies, books, electronic media), which are introduced in the next paragraphs.

1. Directly given distances

In general, the episodes and movies are very thrifty in the use of distances in dialogues, on computer displays etc.; only Star Trek: Voyager includes direct distances to object situated near the route of the USS Voyager more often. Nonetheless, there are figures for nearly all distances between the important planets (i.e. the core planets of alliances and empires) thanks to some key episodes, but also official documentation like the ST:DS9 Technical Manual. Distances listed in such books or mentioned in dialogues are usually given in the popular scientific unit light year (ly), in some cases, however, also the astronomical unit (AU) and the parsec (pc) were used. Although the direct application of distances is the fastest and most comfortable way to get information on star positions and distances, also in these cases a mathematical conversion is sometimes necessary because naturally all distances must be available in the same, standardized unit for the evaluation and visualization in maps  (in the real-life astronomy, the parsec, on Star Trek and therefore in this project the light year).

2. Determine distances by time and velocity

Mainly in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but partly also in the other series and the movies one can find an important indirect type of distance figures, which is closely associated with the interstellar voyages with a starship: the specification of warp factor and time. A typical example is that we know the current position of a starship like the USS Enterprise-D and we get to know in the dialogue, in the The Next Generation preferably with Lt. Cmdr. Data, the necessary warp speed at which the ship reaches a goal in a certain amount of time. Therefore, absolute requirement for this method is the knowledge of starting point and destination beside the time and velocity because otherwise, the figures are useless. If all values are given, the determination of the distance is quite simple, since we only have to apply the mathematical standard formulae (s=v*t) to calculate the distance. However, it has to be taken into consideration that on Star Trek, velocities are never given in km/s, but in warp factors or impulse fractions and therefore their is the problem to convert these special velocities into SI units. Fortunately, the ST:TNG Technical Manual and Star Trek Encyclopedia include tables of the multiples of the light speed (c) or the km/s certain warp factor or impulse fractions correspond to. Hence, in most cases the calculation should not be a problem.

Unfortunately, sometimes it isn't that easy simply to search the corresponding km/s value from a table. In some cases that distances isn't given directly, but is described by phrases like "at high warp" or "at maximum warp". Concerning indefinite expressions, it is usually only possible to use a velocity range and therefore to calculate only a distance range (minimum and maximum distance), however, there is a possibility for a direct determination if "maximum warp" is mentioned. We know the speed limit of quite a lot starship classes, although we have to differentiate between highest sustainable speed (without time limit) and maximum speed (only for a fixed time; usually 12h), depending on the given time. Another problem is that newer classes like the Defiant, Sovereign and Intrepid class have maximum speeds not mentioned in any official table. In these cases we can only use semi-official approximate values which are listed in the following table.

However, the conversion becomes more difficult if a fractional warp factor is given which isn't listed in any of the above tables. Then, we have to use a conversion formula from warp to c. Unfortunately, none of the official documentations mentions such a formula. The only clue is the exact graph of the so-called warp function depicted in the ST:TNG Technical Manual, which approaches an infinite value if the warp factor approaches 10 (asymptotic graph). Numerous popular formulae developed by fans are based on this graph, but none of them can reproduce the exact curve. This is only possible until warp 9, because until this value, the function has a quite simple graph:

f(x)=x (10/3)

Only between warp 9 and 10 the asymptotic gradient has an effect on the graph, so that a correction factor has to be added. A possible formula for that is

f(x)=x (10/3) +(10-x) (-11/3)

which, however, does only produce the exact factors of the light speed listed in the table until warp 9.6.

3. Distances of real stars

Of course, it is rather improbable that a destination whose distance has to be determined is a "real" star, however, it has quite often been the case, especially in the original Star Trek series. On the whole, 34 stars have been mentioned in Star Trek in the dialogue or were part of the action as shown locations. If we actually have a real star, we then only have to look up this star in a stellar atlas, and hopefully we will find a distance figure. However, a partly uncertainty remains because unfortunately, due to different or inaccurate determination methods there is a controversy about the exact distance of some stars.

Exclusively because of the HIPPARCOS mission we have nonetheless relatively accurate distances for all 34 stars. During this mission, which lasted from 1989 to 1983, a satellite measured outside Earth's atmosphere and its interferences the distances to the most important stars with an unequalled precision. Since 1997, the HIPPARCOS catalogue is available, from which the distances of all real stars listed in this project were taken.

4. Measuring distances in maps

It happens relatively seldom that in Star Trek maps of certain galactic regions are shown on screen, and almost never a map of the entire Galaxy is displayed. Often the problem arises that the maps, which are mostly displayed on computer screens, are much too small, indistinct and blurred so that they are virtually useless. Nevertheless, there is a considerable number of known maps from Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and official manuals like the ST:DS9 TM, which we can use for the cartographic analysis. The actual measuring of distances is relatively easy, however, there are some restrictions and problems which have to be considered first. Basically, we can only measure distances if we know the pixel-light year-ratio (px/ly ratio) of the map. This value we can derive from the map scale. With this requirement, most of the available maps have to be ruled out, because only few of them show a scale. Until now, this is only the case with the maps of the ST:DS9 TM. Here, we have a measuring bar on the map, with which we can calculate the searched distance quite easily. Using a ruler and a calculator is surely the quickest way, however, for really 100% accurate results the demanded map should be scanned without any distortions. Subsequently, the single distances should be measured in an image editor. The easiest way is to use a program which can display the length of lines of any angles; unfortunately, most programs do not have this useful function. Therefore, you additionally need a calculator to calculate the distances with right-angled triangles, as shown in the following simple example:

If there isn't any scale figure on the map, there is sometimes nonetheless a possibility to get the px/ly ratio, namely in those cases, when the map includes distances whose length is already known. The ratio can then be determined by measuring the line length or constructing a right-angled triangle and using the Pythagoras theorem. Afterwards, the px/ly ratio can be used to convert the pixel length into the searched distances, how it was shown in the above calculation and it is shown in the following second example.

A last piece of advice concerning the derivation of distances from maps: maps  of the real Galaxy are only limitedly useful for the measurement, because they are a two-dimensional reproduction of the real positions of the stars in the three-dimensional space. Hence, the shown distances are always only the minimum distance to Earth, and it is very probable that the considered star is much farther away because most of them are not located in the same plane as Earth. Three-dimensional maps, on the other hand, can't be used at all for the determination of distances without considerable calculation efforts.

1.2.3 The purpose of real stars for the cartography

Beside the already given positions of stars and planets in official maps it is possible to derive further fixed points from the episodes, movies and official documentation by regarding the 34 real stars. We have already used these special locations in the last paragraph to determine their distances to Earth, in order to use the various coherent distances to get to know their spatial situation. Now, we will take a step forward and calculate the real position of those stars in the three-dimensional space. Of course, this is associated with considerable efforts. However, these efforts will take us much closer to our goal of a Galactic map that is realistic, detailed and coincidentally confirmed by most of the  episodes, because we know enough real stars to use them as a "basic framework" for all fictitious components of the map.

To determine the real, absolute positions of the stars in the Galaxy it is inevitably necessary to deal with the galactic coordinate system very intensively, which is a very powerful, but rather neglected astronomical system. With the increasing exploration of our Galaxy and its structure, the galactic coordinate system has been developed by the astronomers because of their desire to learn more about the concentration and distribution of the stars in the Milky Way. It is considerably ponderous to use the conventional coordinate systems (like the equatorial system) for this special field of the astronomy called stellar statistics, because for the determination of the real situation of the stars in space, and not at the sky, you always need the distance of the star beside its right ascension and the declination. On the other hand, with galactic coordinates, which refer to the Milky Way, additional distance figures are not needed. The reason for this peculiarity is that the galactic coordinate system is the sole system which is not  based on earth-bounded (and partly distance or time dependant) celestial coordinates, but which uses points of superior systems as definition parameters. The reference plane or basic circle of this coordinate system is the Galactic plane (the symmetrical plane of our Galaxy), the Galactic center is used as reference point. Simultaneously, the Galactic core is the longitudinal zero-point, that means the direction towards the Galactic center has a galactic length of 0�. The galactic longitude l is the counterpart to the right ascension (the azimuthal / longitudinal angle) and increases in the same direction (counter-clockwise) in a degree-based system from 0� to 360�. The second necessary coordinate is the counterpart to the declination (the elevation angle), the galactic latitude b , which decreases from the Galactic north pole with b=90� and the Galactic plane with b=0� to the Galactic south pole with b=-90�. To calculate both galactic coordinates from the equatorial coordinates, at least the coordinates of two fixed points are needed: the Galactic center and the Galactic north pole. Both values are currently only available for the equinox (the astronomical epoch) 1950.00. The Galactic center has the right ascension  17 h 42.4 min and the declination -28�.92, and the Galactic north pole has the right ascension 12 h 49 min and the declination +27�.4. The following example, Vulcan (=o 2 Eridani or 40 Eridani), shows how galactic coordinates can be calculated:

1. We look up the equatorial coordinates of the star. Vulcan has the right ascension 04 h 13 min and the declination -7�.44'.

2. The right ascension has to be converted from time-based coordinates (hour h , time minutes min and time seconds s ) into degree-based coordinates (Degrees �, Arc minutes ' and Arc seconds ''), which are used for both the declination and the galactic coordinates. For this purpose, we first divide the time seconds (if given) by 60 and add the hours in order to get a right ascension only in hours (as a decimal number). For Vulcan, this leads to (13/60)+04=4. h 21667. To convert the time-based angle into a degree-based angle, the result has to be multiplied by 15 (1 h =15�): 4. h 21667*15= 63�.25 .

3. For the actual conversion into galactic coordinates, some formulae of the spherical trigonometry are needed. The galactic latitude b we calculate from the right ascension a and the declination d with

sin b=sin d * cos 62�.6 - cos d * sin 62�.6 * sin(a-282�.25)

For Vulcan, this results in sin b=-0.6136 and therefore b=-37�.85 .

For the somewhat more difficult calculation of the galactic longitude l, we need the calculated galactic latitude:

cos(l-33�) =   ( cos d * cos(a - 282�.25) ) / (cos b)

For Vulcan, we get sin l-33�=-0.9759 and therefore l-33�=167.4� and finally l=200.4� .

With these formulae given in specialist literature, the problem arises that they oddly not always produce the right values. The galactic latitude is always correct, however, the galactic longitude deviates with half the values by 0� till 200�. Of course, this is unacceptable, so that a second method for the determination of galactic coordinates becomes necessary, in order to get comparison figures for the calculated values.

What can we now do with these galactic coordinates? If you take a look at the fixed points of the galactic coordinate system - north pole, south pole, Galactic plane, it becomes clear that in this system, the stars are quasi projected on a Galactic sphere , whose equator is the Galactic plane. We can now put Earth in the center of the Galactic sphere, because she is located very near to the Galactic plane and we have fixed all definition parameters (Galactic north pole, zero-point) by our earth-based equatorial system. If we draw the fixed points, Earth and a star whose position is searched in a model of the galactic coordinate system, we see that the position of this star relative to Earth can be determined with simple trigonometric calculations.

If we look at the Galactic plane "from the top", rotated in that way, that 0� galactic longitude are the exact vertical intersection line of the Galactic equator, then all stars with a positive relative x coordinate are located  right from Earth on the plane, with positive relative y coordinate below Earth on the plane, and with positive z coordinate (spatially) above Earth and the Galactic plane. Hence, the star in the above example has positive x,y and z coordinates.

With repeating the described procedure for a sufficiently large number of stars and transforming the relative coordinates according to a fixed pixel-light year-ratio, galactic maps can be created very easily.

Now that you have learned the basic knowledge of the Star Trek cartography and know how to apply the different tools and methods, the actual journey through the Star Trek Galaxy is about to commence.

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