Stardate

For the radio program, see StarDate.

A stardate is a fictional system of time measurement developed for the television and film series Star Trek. In the series, use of this date system is commonly heard at the beginning of a voice-over log entry, such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7. Our destination is planet Deneb IV …". While the original method was inspired by the Modified Julian date[1][2][3] system currently used by astronomers, the writers and producers have selected numbers using different methods over the years, some more arbitrary than others. This makes it impossible to convert all stardates into equivalent calendar dates, especially since stardates were originally intended to avoid specifying exactly when Star Trek takes place.[4]

  1. ^ Lee Anne Nicholson, ed. (1996). Star Trek 30 Years Special Collector's Edition. Paramount Pictures.
  2. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Robert H. Justman, Herbert F. Solow (writers), Kellam de Forest (source) (1998). Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (Videotape). 24 minutes in. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  3. ^ Joel Engel (1994). Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek. Hyperion Books.
  4. ^ Onion, Rebecca (14 May 2013). "Pages from the Official Star Trek Writers' Guide, 1967". Slate magazine. The Slate Group. Retrieved 15 May 2013.