4.3 Interstellar, Galactic, and Other Stuff

These are some of the things that our ship may run into in the great void between stars. These are also some of the phenomena associated with the structure of our Milky Way Galaxy itself.

background radiation: A very low level radio signal that seems to permeate the entire sky. This is a distant echo of the original Big Bang in which the universe was created. This radiation is pretty harmless, but it is something that our people may well continue to study in the 24th century in search of clues to the early moments of the universe.

dark matter: Current scientific theory suggests that our galaxy may contain vast quantities of "dark matter" in the spaces between the arms of the galaxy and in the regions around its perimeter. If this stuff exists, it is probably very tenuous, but its total mass may be ten times greater than the visible galaxy.

density wave: Believed to emanate from the center of the galaxy, density waves, over millions of years, "herd" stars into the spiral arm structures seen in galaxies. Their source is unknown.

Dyson Sphere: Postulated by physicist Freeman Dyson, this would be an incredibly large structure built by some advanced culture. The sphere would completely enclose a star, harnessing the star's total energy output. A Dyson Sphere would easily be 200 million miles in diameter, dwarfing any other artificial construct we've yet seen on Star Trek, and would presumably have been built for some incredible purpose that our writers will devise. This could be detected by infrared waste heat emissions that would probably leak through the sphere's surface. Used.

galaxy, center of: The center of our galaxy is believed to be a very dense cluster of stars... a very spectacular sight to those used to the relatively sparse starscape visible from Earth. The relatively high density of the star population means that starship navigation is probably somewhat trickier than normal (though well within the abilities of our people and hardware), and radiation levels would probably be quite a bit higher. There may be a large, dangerous black hole at the very center of the galaxy. The movie Star Trek V established that there is a mysterious and dangerous energy barrier around the center, where Kirk and company discovered the mythical planet, Sha-Ka-Ree. See also: Great Annihilator and Sagittarius A.

galaxy, edge of: The first Star Trek series established that there is a mysterious energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy. This unexplained force is a spectacular curtain of shimmering energy, very dangerous to both ship and crew. Beyond the edge of our galaxy is a vast intergalactic void, millions — even billions — of light years to other galaxies.

gravity waves: Some scientists believe that gravity is transmitted through space by means of gravity waves. This is thought to be similar to electromagnetic waves (like light), gravity waves are released when there is either a sudden acceleration of an object or a sudden shift in the distribution of a mass. If this is the case, one might imagine some bizarre phenomena in which two sets of gravity waves somehow intersect, possibly causing strange (and probably dangerous) spatial distortions.

Great Annihilator: An unknown, massive object believed to exist near the core of our Milky Way Galaxy. This is a powerful source of gamma ray radiation which is believed to be created by the collision of prodigious amounts of electrons and positrons (antimatter). The source of this antimatter is a mystery. So called because the electrons and positrons are annihilated when they come into contact with each other, causing a release of energy not unlike that harnessed in our warp engine core.

maximum entropy: The death of the universe as we know it. Current theory suggests that at an almost unimaginably distant time in the future, the energy in the universe will be spread equally across the cosmos. When there are no temperature differences, there can be no chemical or nuclear activity, and the universe will be effectively "dead". There is another theory which suggests that rather than "dying" at maximum entropy, the universe will collapse back onto itself to form another Big Bang, starting a whole new universe.

nebula: A large, tenuous cloud of interstellar dust and gas. Often the remnants of an exploded star or a solar system in the making. Although very thin, the dust and gas can be a hazard to the ship when travelling at high impulse (sublight) speeds. This is similar to reentry into the Earth's atmosphere — it causes severe friction heating on the Space Shuttle. If the nebula is near a star, it could glow with the star's radiation, quite a spectacular sight, but possibly impairing the ship's sensors. Under certain conditions, a nebula can coalesce into a whirlpool, which can become a new solar system.

negative matter: Not the same thing as antimatter. Negative matter would theoretically have the same properties as "normal" matter, except that it would have a gravity field which pushes away rather than attracting. When negative matter and positive matter come into contact, they would theoretically annihilate each other, but with no release of energy. Both particles would simply cease to exist.

proto-universe event: A hypothetical occurrence in which another Big Bang is occurring in a parallel universe, but somehow intrudes into ours. There would be severe spacetime distortions accompanied by the release of a tremendous amount of energy and possibly some "new" matter created by the parallel Big Bang. Used.

rogue star cluster: A globular cluster that's been gravitationally torn apart by passage through the galaxy. Most of it will go harmlessly through the galaxy, a relatively small number of stars could pass close enough to the heart of the Federation to whip a number of entire solar systems out of the galaxy. This could take place over a relatively short number of years, even though we would probably see the approaching cluster from Earth today.

Sagittarius A: A strong source of natural radio signals at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. There is no known association with the Great Annihilator.

star cluster: A clump of stars, drawn (relatively) close together by gravitational attraction. Relatively high levels of radiation and relatively high concentrations of interstellar gas can be found in these areas.

strings, interstellar: Also called "superstrings". Incredibly long gossamers of incredibly dense material. One theory describes them as a black hole that's one proton in diameter but light-years long, and virtually undetectable at a distance except by its intense gravity. If a ship were to fly through such a string, it would cut the ship neatly in half. If it got entangled in a solar system, it could slice the planets and star into pasta. If a way could be found to manufacture or control these objects, they could make a very potent weapon or defensive system. Used.

subspace: A hypothetical spatial continuum (maybe a parallel dimension?) in which Voyager and other starships exist when at warp drive. The laws of physics are somewhat different in subspace, making it possible to go at the speed of light, which is impossible in our reality.

subspace anomaly: When Voyager is travelling at warp speed, it is presumably not entirely in normal space (where faster-than-light travel is impossible), but in a hypothetical domain called "subspace". It is conceivable that subspace is not a uniform continuum, but that it has mysterious "anomalies" — density variations, field vortices, or other such things. These might be difficult to detect but could be very dangerous to the ship at warp speed.

Von Neumann Machine: Postulated by mathematician John Von Neumann, this is a concept of a semi-intelligent machine which is built to (1) find raw material, and (2) make copies of itself. Such devices could conceivably "eat" an entire planetary system, much as a virus can consume a host body. Von Neumann machines could be built for massive terraforming of an uninhabitable world, as homes for colonists, or as a terrible, self-replicating army of destruction.

wormhole: A hypothetical "tunnel" through the structure of space. One would enter the tunnel and apparently travel a relatively short distance, emerging much further away. This would probably be a subspace phenomenon somehow related to our warp drive. The Star Trek features have established that a warp drive malfunction can pull the ship into a dangerous wormhole. In the TNG episode "The Price" we have seen that most natural wormholes are very unstable, with both endpoints fluctuating wildly in both time and space. Used.

VOYAGER UPDATE: As we know, the wormhole has become a familiar object in the Star Trek universe. Deep Space Nine guards the Bajor-to-Idran artificial wormhole, the express route across 70,000 light-years of space to the Gamma Quadrant.

Now, with Star Trek: Voyager, we find that the Caretaker aliens have created a similar length of wormhole through which they have pulled starships from the Bajor neighborhood to the distant Delta Quadrant.

The USS Voyager will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to traverse 70,000 lightyears without some shortcut. Even if the starship could maintain Warp 9.99, it would still take some 75 years to get home.