Stargate (device)
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Image:SG1stargate.jpg Stargates are large, ring-shaped devices in the Stargate science fiction universe that utilize advanced technology for nearly instantaneous personal travel across the vast distances of space. These devices were first seen in fiction with the 1994 film Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich, and then subsequently in the TV series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis (as well as the animated series Stargate Infinity). The Stargate is the central plot generator of these productions, allowing for stories focused on a small team of protagonists exploring other planets and meeting other races on foot, rather than the more prevalent, grandiose "space opera" of interstellar starships seen elsewhere in science fiction.
Stargates are typically 22 feet (6.7 m) in diameter and made of a fictional heavy mineral called Naqahdah. The gates are usually found standing vertically, though they are seen functioning normally in other orientations. They are marked out by nine 'chevrons' spaced equally around their circumference, and roughly 39 symbols displayed on an inner ring.<ref name="officialsite">MGM Official Website for Stargate SG-1, trivia, URL: http://www.stargatesg1.com/stargatehb.html</ref> Template:TOCleft
In the mythology of the canon, their creators were an alien race known as the Ancients<ref name="officialsite">MGM Official Website for Stargate SG-1, trivia, URL: http://www.stargatesg1.com/stargatehb.html</ref> (properly, the Alterans<ref name="avalon">Template:Sgcite</ref>), who scattered them on habitable planets throughout the Milky Way and other galaxies, millions of years ago. Collectively, these comprise what is often called the "Stargate Network", which facilitates travel throughout the cosmos. Stargates are present on many planets but many peoples do not know how to use them. Recently, the US Air Force discovered how to use the Stargate on Earth. <ref name="film">Stargate (1999)</ref>
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Name and origin
The name "Stargate" was invented by the writers of the original feature film of the same title, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, and although similar devices have been seen in previous fiction, the complete conception of a Stargate, as seen in the Stargate canon, is quite original and attributable to them as well, although there has been contention<ref name="imdb">Internet Movie Database trivia, URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111282/trivia</ref> as to whether they plagiarised the idea from a previous script submission. The name was a logical choice ("gate to the stars"), but in retrospect has caused the series and film to be mistaken for the unrelated series Star Trek and Star Wars. The Stargate was further developed conceptually by the creators of the spin-off TV series Stargate SG-1, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.
Image:Worm3.jpg The concept of a Stargate is based heavily in theoretical physics, particularly on that of black holes and wormholes. Some scientists believe that a wormhole is a warping of spacetime causing space to become "folded" and can allow for "shortcuts" through space. This view is not widely held to be true,<ref name="nowormhole">Template:Cite web</ref> especially of travel for human beings, as such wormholes are held to be created by black holes, the gravity of which would destroy any potential traveller.<ref name="blackhole">Template:Cite web</ref> A Stargate is held to create an "artificial", controlled black hole of sorts, yielding a "stable wormhole".
The idea of a "portal" for travellers has been seen often throughout the history of both fantasy and science fiction, nearly always taking a similar form, that is, of a device or magical object shaped as a regular or irregular closed geometric form filled with a water-like, rippling puddle that represents the boundary point between "here" and "there". The Stargate picks up on this conception, emphasising the "watery puddle" for the sake of an alien mystique, and explaining it all in terms of advanced technology.
The origins of the Stargates are expounded upon in great detail in the follow-up TV series to the film, Stargate SG-1, which involves a rich background of alien races, each of which have discovered the Stargates separately and grown around them. The Alterans, (also known as the Ancients), who built the gates, appear to have called them Astria Porta. The Jaffa and Goa'uld call them the Chaapa'ai, and the English word "Stargate" is supposedly a direct calque of this word. Oddly enough, it seems that Chaapa'ai is itself a calque of Astria Porta.
In the Pegasus galaxy, villagers know them as Rings of the Ancestors and variations thereof. It is also common to hear one being referred to as "the ring", "the annulus", or quite simply "the gate". To primitive peoples these devices often carry associations of the divine and sacred, or of fear, as evidenced by such names as "Ring of the Gods" (several early SG-1 episodes) and "Circle of Darkness".<ref name="Demons">Template:Cite episode</ref>
Operation of Stargates
If given enough power, and "dialed" correctly, a Stargate opens a wormhole allowing nearly-instantaneous travel to another Stargate. Matter can only pass in one direction between Stargates — from the Stargate that "initiated" the connection to the destination. Objects in transit are broken down into their individual atoms and then reconstructed on the other side, yet walking through a Stargate is superficially no different to stepping through a doorway.
Dialing
Image:Stargatesg1diallingcomputer.jpg Each location served by a Stargate has its own unique "address", which is a combination of six of the symbols that appear on the dialing Stargate (if the Stargate is in another galaxy the address is composed of seven). By "dialing" these symbols in the correct order, the destination for travel is selected. Furthermore, when dialing an address one must complete it with a symbol unique to each gate called the "point of origin" symbol, acting as an identifier. Generally, there are 3 ways that a Stargate can be dialed.
- With a Dial Home Device
The easiest way is using a Dial-Home Device which is an Ancient control console usually found accompanying a Stargate. With a DHD all the dialer needs to do is press the buttons on the DHD with the symbols that correspond with the gate address. The power is supplied automatically. Puddle Jumpers have an on-board DHD panel, which functions as a remote control to the gate Template:Sgcite. - With an Alternate Dialer
There are several alternate gate dialers in use. Alternate dialers have to not only dial, but also provide a stream of power to the gate. Examples of alternate dialers include:- The Stargate Command Dialing Computer: Essentially, it operates on the same principle as manual dialing, except the dialing computer controls electric motors that move the ring around so that the seventh chevron can engage on each symbol; in normal manual dialing, the ring would be moved by hand. This results in dialing faster than manual, but slower than other methods.
- The Atlantis Gate dialer: Essentially a puddle jumper DHD; however, it appears to have extra features, like blocking out certain gate addresses ("Before I Sleep").
- Remote dialers that can be held in the hand or worn on the wrist have been used by the Goa'uld, Asgard, and Cassandra in Earth's future ("1969"). The Nox woman Lya was seemingly able to engage the Stargate through her own powers, but perhaps she had an unseen remote dialer ("Enigma").
- By Dialing Manually
If no dialling system is present, a user must manually select the address. On a Stargate of Milky Way design, this involves using sheer force to rotate the inner ring. However, the gate requires energy to establish and maintain an outgoing wormhole; without a dialing device powering the gate, a separate power source ,such as a Naquadah Generator, must be used though in some cases there may already be enough energy stored to dial out once. The element the gate is composed of is a superconductor so electricity can quite simply be fed to it directly. Pegasus Galaxy Stargates do not have a movable ring and so manually dialing these may be impossible.
Addresses
Image:StargateCoordinates.png The symbols used to comprise addresses are actually images of constellations. By identifying six constellations in space, a single point can be extrapolated that corresponds to the destination desired.<ref name="film">Stargate (1999)</ref> This is usually enough to identify the position of any Stargate within a galaxy. The symbols dialed are often referred to as "coordinates", and are written as an ordered string; for example, this is the address to the planet Abydos: Template:Milky Way Gate Address.
Eight-symbol addresses connect to Stargates in a different galaxy. The eighth symbol acts as a type of "area code".<ref name="thefifthrace">Template:Cite episode</ref> Such connections, in comparison to seven symbol codes, require substantially more energy to complete a functional wormhole — much more than any standard dialing method can provide. So far, a ZPM (Zero Point Module) or a power modulator based on Ancient technology<ref name="thefifthrace">Template:Cite episode</ref> are the only power sources known by Stargate Command to have enough energy to initiate an intergalactic wormhole for enough time to transport a human being; however, an Atlantis-Earth wormhole powered by five naqahdah generators was established for just over one second to allow a high-density data transmission to be transferred (Atlantis: "Letters from Pegasus") and the Ori have shown the capability to establish an intergalactic wormhole by tapping the energy extant in a black hole.<ref name="camelot">Template:Cite episode</ref>
Image:Seventh chevron.jpg Nine-symbol addresses have never been dialed, and their purpose is as yet unknown. The eighth and ninth chevrons are so rarely used that Stargates are often found with those two chevrons embedded within the stone platform that holds the gate upright (see the image at the top of this article). This has often led to the misconception that a Stargate only has seven chevrons.
The dialing process involves associating a unique symbol of the inner ring to each of at least the first seven of the chevrons on the outer circumference. This sets the address that you are dialing. A series of six or more non-repeating<ref>"seven symbols chosen from a pool of 38 non-repeating candidates, that's about 63 billion possible combinations." Template:Cite episode</ref> symbols identifying the destination are dialed first, followed by the gate's "origin" symbol, which acts as the final trigger for the completion of the address sequence. As each symbol is dialed, the chevron is said to "engage" and usually responds by lighting up or moving. When the final symbol of an address is dialed, that chevron is said to "lock" and the wormhole opens (this terminology is arbitrary and often interchangeable but preferred by the recurring character Walter Harriman). If the address is incorrect or does not correspond to an existing or otherwise functional Stargate, the last chevron will not lock, and all of the chevrons will disengage. This is one of many failsafe systems built into the Stargates by the Ancients.
Dial Home Device
Image:Dhd.jpg Template:Main The Dial-Home Device, often just called the D.H.D. for short, is a pedestal-shaped device with a round inclined control panel on top, consisting of two concentric circles of "keys", and a translucent red hemisphere in the center; the keys represent the symbols on the rim of the Stargate and the central hemisphere serves as an "Enter" key to activate the Stargate once a destination has been dialed. The DHD also provides power for the Stargate and appears to include a complex programming interface that is not normally needed by the operator.
It appears that originally every Stargate had its own DHD, located directly in front of the Stargate and facing it. However, over time some DHDs have been damaged or lost. This presents a difficulty for Stargate travellers, as it is still possible to travel to a Stargate that lacks a DHD, meaning that dialing home again will be much more difficult, if not impossible. One of the primary functions of the MALP that precedes an SG team is to confirm the presence of a functioning DHD.
The Wormhole
Image:Kawoosh side.jpg Once an address is dialed, the gate will create a stable wormhole between itself and the gate dialed. The creation process lasts roughly 2 seconds, and is completed by the ejection of an unstable energy vortex called the "kawoosh", resembling a surge of water or quicksilver. Any matter contacted by the "kawoosh" effect is destroyed.
The power for the wormhole is drawn solely from the point of origin (i.e. the dialing Stargate's power source). Unless an extraordinary amount of energy is being generated at either end, a wormhole can only be maintained for 38 minutes at a time (with some exceptions); this is one of the most repeated and basic axioms of Wormhole Physics, the (fictional) field of study pioneered by Samantha Carter.
Image:Wormhole old.jpg The actual wormhole of a Stargate appears inside the inner ring when an address is correctly dialed. This has the appearance of a circular pool being filled with a puddle of water, called the event horizon. In non-fictional parlance, an event horizon is the surface of a black hole through which one could pass into a theoretical wormhole; the genius of the Stargate technology is thus to form a space-time distortion (wormhole) without the gravitational effects of a black hole. The wavering undulations characteristic of water-like appearance are actually "fluctuations in the event horizon"<ref name="children">Template:Cite episode</ref> according to Samantha Carter. This puddle may then be entered (usually accompanied by a water-like sound), and the traveller will emerge from a similar pool at the destination Stargate. This only works in one direction however. It is unknown what happens to matter which goes the wrong way through a wormhole; most assume that it is destroyed or just passes through without going anywhere.
Image:New wormhole.jpg Transit through a wormhole lasts a short amount of time. Sometimes it is almost instantaneous, and others it may last up to 20 seconds. Most commonly the process lasts about 3 seconds. The show is ambiguous in how it displays wormhole travel. Passage through a Stargate is usually accompanied by a visual effect of shooting through a tunnel in space, and it is unclear whether this is meant to be a first person traveller's-eye-view representation, or just a visual aid. The former interpretation, though technically impossible (as a traveller's eyes are, along with the rest of his or her body, deconstructed into their individual atoms in transit), is often suggested by the show, as novice travellers often emerge from the gate trembling as if they've been on a "rollercoaster ride",<ref name="children">Template:Cite episode</ref> and Charles Kawalsky describes travel like "pull[ing] out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at eight plus gees".<ref name="children">Template:Cite episode</ref> The visual effect resembles a spinning wispy tube, and was in Season 9 (and the first season of Atlantis) updated to resemble a misty tunnel lit by shooting rings of light.
Complexities of Stargate function
Stargates are immensely complex, and are the masterworks of the Alteran race. Often through complete accident, some further function is discovered by SG-1. A detailed description of the further functionality of the Stargate is given below; you may wish to skip this section if you are only after an overview of the Stargate.
Secondary gates
Image:Antarctic gate.jpg Some planets are known to possess "secondary" or "backup" Stargates. The second Stargate is normally inactive, with the primary Stargate receiving all incoming wormholes. If a Stargate experiences a power surge while an outgoing wormhole is open, the other end of the wormhole automatically "jumps" to the next closest gate in the network. In the case of a planet with two gates, the other inactive gate is used as the backup. On at least one occasion, a Stargate was hit by an energy weapon as SG-1 team members were using it to return to Earth. This caused them to be transmitted to a second, previously unknown gate on Earth that was located beneath the ice of Antarctica.<ref name="Solitudes">Template:Cite episode</ref> However, the ability to defer an incoming wormhole to a nearby gate appears to be something more than a failsafe, as it is seen as a defensive measure in the episode "Prototype".
The Dial-Home Device (DHD) is apparently responsible for determining whether a Stargate is primary or secondary. The Russians, in their position of controlling the secondary gate, were able to use their DHD to override the American Stargate's (the SGC's) reception of incoming wormholes to retrieve their own returning Stargate exploration teams. In the absence of a DHD (as in the two-year period on Earth between the disconnection of the Russian gate and its rental to the United States), the primary gate is apparently determined by which gate has a power source attached to it.
Matter transmission
Image:Event horizon emerge.jpg When an object passes through the event horizon, it is not immediately transferred to the destination Stargate, but rather the portion that has passed through is dematerialised and held in some kind of hyperspatial buffer. An object that hasn't completely passed through the event horizon may be pulled out again, and its atoms will rematerialise from the buffer as it is extracted. The gate does not begin transmitting an object until it has entirely passed through the event horizon. This ensures that only complete objects are transferred. If a Stargate is shut down while an object is halfway through, the portion that is already through the event horizon ceases to exist.
A Stargate transmits matter in discrete units. Before an object is transmitted through the matter stream from the originating Stargate to its destination, the object must completely cross the event horizon of the wormhole. Matter travelling through a Stargate wormhole retains any kinetic energy it had while entering the event horizon, so a person running into one Stargate will hit the ground running upon emerging from another Stargate. Also, any matter that has entered the event horizon, but has not been transmitted through the wormhole, will remain in a state of suspension. This has been used to "store" people in medical need.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> This is however a dangerous manoeuvre, as any matter that is through the event horizon but not yet transmitted will cease to exist when the Stargate shuts down. If the Stargate's wormhole is shut down improperly before a transmitted object rematerializes the matter stored in the hyperspatial buffer may be recovered, but the buffer will be cleared by the unstable vortex (kawoosh) which wipe the buffer clean to receive new information. To recover an object that is stored in the buffer you must create an event horizon without connecting to a wormhole, if you do connect to a wormhole the "kawoosh" will destroy the information required to rematerialize the object.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>
The transmitting Stargate does not allow the air molecules of the local atmosphere to pass through. If it did, this could be disastrous should a receiving gate be located in a vacuum. The gate also prevents water from passing through if the Stargate is submerged. This is odd however since in the Stargate Atlantis Episode "Inferno" lava passed through the gate and would have emerged in the gate room in Atlantis had the forcefield not be activated. This is explained in one episode by Carter<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>, saying that the Stargate differentiates between objects attempting to pass through the event horizon and things that would naturally exert pressure, such as water.
Gate obstruction
Image:Buried gate.jpg A wormhole is prevented from forming if a significant obstruction is present inside the Stargate's ring. Consequently, it is fairly common for Stargates to be semi-sealed or permanently sealed by burying them; this action invalidates that Stargate address. Another means of controlling travel through a Stargate is by placing a barrier a minuscule distance (less than two micrometres) from the event horizon, which allows wormholes to be formed but prevents the reconstitution of matter upon arrival through the gate. The Iris on the Earth Stargate and the Iris Shield on the Atlantis Stargate perform this function and are an effective defense while still allowing radio communication through the open wormhole. Iris-type barriers suppress the kawoosh. Several aliens, including the Asgard and the Nox have demonstrated the ability to open a wormhole without the "kawoosh".
Power source
Power is always required to establish an outgoing wormhole, usually from the DHD, but any Stargate can receive a wormhole whether it has a power supply or not; the dialing gate is the one that supplies power to both. In a few cases, Stargates have been dialed "manually" when more sophisticated means were not available. This was accomplished by providing sufficient raw power to the gate and then rotating the symbol ring by hand to lock each chevron (e.g. "The Torment of Tantalus" and "Prisoners"). Power can be fed directly into the naquadah that comprises the gate; a lightning strike has been shown to be sufficient.
The Stargate that establishes an outgoing wormhole determines how long the wormhole is held open, and can generally close the wormhole at will. There are inconsistencies in how this is portrayed in the series. Sometime the gate appears to stay open without anything passing through it — other times it snaps closed as soon as the last person has emerged.
Durability of Stargates
Image:GateExplode.jpg The Stargates themselves are particularly resistant to damage or destruction: in one case, a Stargate survived a direct hit from a meteor,<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> whilst another was still capable of creating a stable wormhole while on a planet near a newly-formed black hole.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> A Stargate has also been seen to continue functioning whilst entering a sun,<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> though it was protected by a portable forcefield for a portion of its journey.
In the ninth season of Stargate SG-1 the United States is revealed to have developed a naqahdriah-enhanced "Gatebuster" nuclear bomb that was theoretically capable of destroying a Stargate (The Mark IX). However, when it was first used it failed to destroy the intended Stargate. This could have been for several reasons: the Stargate was active, which may have increased its durability; the Prior made contact with the Stargate a moment before the explosion, perhaps harnessing an Ori-induced power; the shield surrounding the Stargate could have absorbed the blast; or the bomb may have simply not been powerful enough.
However, there have been incidents when a Stargate was destroyed. Anubis used a piece of Ancient technology to destroy the SGC's Antarctic gate, and used a weapon of his own creation to destroy the gate on Abydos.
Exceptions
Normally, a wormhole can only be maintained for slightly more than thirty-eight minutes. This time-limit has been exceded on three occasions: first, when the Earth gate was connected to a gate in proximity to a black hole ("A Matter of Time"); second, after an energy-producing water maintained the power for a gate while a Russian vehicle had its transmitter stuck ("Watergate"); third, Anubis used a weapon made by the Ancients (or with their technology) to slowly feed energy to a Stargate, eventually causing it to explode ("Redemption"). Also, the Ori possess the ability to keep a Supergate open indefinitely between galaxies ("Beachhead") but this is most likely due to the use of a black hole as a power source.
Other uses of a Stargate
In several episodes of the series, the Stargate network was used for a purpose other than interplanetary travel. These extra functions of the Stargate are, however, usually discovered by a fluke, and were not intended in the design of the network and individual Stargates. Two such occurrences regard the Stargate's interaction with time, such as "1969", in which the SG-1 team accidentally travels backward in time to the year 1969, as a result of the matter transmission stream passing through a solar flare. This resulted in a slingshot phenomenon which sent their matter back to Earth, but to a much different time. Carter intentionally uses this phenomenon in the episode "2010", where she uses advanced technology to predict a flare and send a message back in time. Time is also a factor in the episode "Window of Opportunity", when a scientist uses a failed time machine built by the Ancients to isolate a region defined by 14 Stargates from the rest of the space-time continuum, causing a time loop.
In several episodes, the Stargate, and the cobbled-together dialing program utilized by the SGC, nearly were the cause of disaster. In the episode "Red Sky", the bypassing of a system error caused the Stargate to introduce atoms of a super heavy element into the center of a star, causing the star to become unstable. In the episode "Ripple Effect", the passage of a stargate matter stream through a black hole caused the creation of a passageway into alternate realities. Finally, one Stargate can be caused to dial multiple other gates simultaneously, allowing a blast wave such as that of the Dakara Superweapon to extend almost indefinitely throughout the galaxy, as is seen in "Reckoning".
Plot surrounding the Stargates
In the original movie only one valid set of destination coordinates was known, those to the planet Abydos, and it was thought that only those two Stargates existed. At the beginning of the Stargate SG-1 series, however, a large set of additional valid coordinates were discovered engraved in ruins on Abydos. Because the coordinates pick out stars, and because time leads to stellar drift, other addresses were impossible to dial until Samantha Carter reworked the dialing system on Earth to account for this movement.
The alien race encountered in the original movie is later developed in SG-1 as the Goa'uld, the dominant evil power in the Milky Way. The leaders of this race, the System Lords, pose as Gods and use the Stargates to cart slaves between worlds; this accounts for why many peoples encountered on other planets either fear the Stargate or associate it with the Gods, and also why they are human. For a long time it was thought that the Goa'uld were the builders of the Stargate network, but it was later discovered that they had merely made use of the relics left behind by the Ancients.
In addition to the Ancients, the Tollan have demonstrated the ability to build Stargates with the assistance of the Nox after SG-1 introduced the two races. Also, in the Season 5 episode "Ascension", one Ancient was able to build a small one-shot Stargate using materials and tools readily available on Earth to average citizens, but it could only dial one address.
For most of Stargate SG-1, Earth is under constant threat from the Goa'uld, and is no match for their superior technology. A top-secret command called the SGC (Stargate Command) is created, and teams are gathered that will use the Stargate to travel to other planets for the sake of building alliances and procuring technology that could help to defend Earth. The primary team is called SG-1, and the series follows their adventures.
It was later discovered that more distant Stargate networks could be accessed by dialing eight chevrons. The Asgard world Othala in the galaxy of Ida and also Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy were reached in this manner. However such addresses require much more energy than is usually available. Typically, a ZPM (the power-sources that the Ancients used to use) is required to initiate such a wormhole.
The Milky Way's Stargates
Image:Milky Way Stargate (blank).png A Milky Way Stargate has thirty-nine inscribed symbols on the inner ring. When dialing, this inner ring rotates until the dialed symbol is aligned with the seventh chevron, at which point the ring pauses, the seventh chevron moves down and up, and the appropriate chevron in the sequence engages. In the Stargate SG-1 series, an engaged chevron glows red. In the original Stargate film, all of the chevrons use this motion, and none of them glow red.
With 39 symbols, the Stargate Network in the Milky Way has:
- 38×37×36×35×34×33 = 1,987,690,320 possible addresses.
8-symbol addresses will yield:
- 38×37×36×35×34×33×32 = 63,606,090,240 possible addresses.
However, not all of them represent valid coordinates (i.e. ones where a Stargate is present). Most sets of destination coordinates do not have a Stargate located at them; there are sufficiently few valid coordinate sets that randomly dialing the Stargate is largely futile.
Because the gate on Earth was found without a DHD, the Stargate team on Earth developed the technology to interface with the gate in order to power it and dial it by the use of computers. In Stargate SG-1, when dialing the Stargate using a DHD, its inner ring does not spin, it simply just activates each chevron as they are entered on the DHD. Some species in the series (such as the Nox) possess the ability to instantanously activate a wormhole, thus being able to dial the gate without using a dialing device.
The Giza Stargate's symbols
The Stargate found at Giza, Egypt was the first discovered by humans of Earth, and was the one used by the SGC for a long time to explore other galaxies. Its symbols are as follows:
*This symbol is unique to the Stargate recovered from Giza. In the movie, Dr. Jackson interpreted it as representing the Sun over the peak of a pyramid. Other Stargates have their own unique origin symbols, including the Antarctic Stargate that was also found on Earth.
Pegasus' Stargates
Image:Pegasus-gate2.jpg In the spinoff series Stargate Atlantis, an expedition dials the 8-symbol address Template:Milky Way Gate Address|Template:SGGlyph|pixelwidth=16|openbracket=|closebracket=}} from Stargate Command to travel to the Ancients' Lost City of Atlantis, located in the Pegasus Galaxy. They find that the Ancients seeded planets throughout the Pegasus galaxy with Stargates too, but used gates of a slightly different design. However, the differences are mostly cosmetic.
Pegasus Stargates have teal chevron lights instead of red ones, and the address symbols are groups of small blue lights that appear to "rotate" across the ring instead of embossed figures. Unlike the Milky Way gates, there are 36 Symbols on the gate, but 7 symbols are still required to dial an interplanetary address — which totals 1,168,675,200 possible combinations from each Pegasus galaxy Stargate, fewer than those in the Milky Way but adhering to the same constraints. The address ring does not rotate; instead, the symbols light up sequentially to indicate which one is currently selected. This probably means that manual dialing of Pegasus gates is not possible.
Image:Pegasus-gate.jpg In an apparent departure from the standard "anywhere to anywhere" dialing capabilities of Stargates, the only Stargate in the Pegasus galaxy that's capable of reaching Stargates in the Milky Way is the one located in Atlantis. This is due to a special control crystal apparently unique to the Atlantis DHD without which a Pegasus Stargate cannot encode its eighth chevron. This is likely a deliberate feature, as the Ancients fled the Pegasus galaxy to take refuge in the Milky Way and sealed their fortified city behind them; they did not wish to inflict the Wraith on the Milky Way, for obvious reasons.
Unlike any other known gates, the Atlantis Gate can also identify the point of origin of the gate that tries to dial in, and can block an incoming wormhole. This was used to keep Atlantis sealed for 10,000 years and was programmed in by the ancients before they fled the city after meeting an alternate Dr. Weir. This Dr. Weir then revealed this to the "second" Atlantis expedition after being revived from an Ancient stasis pod.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>
Some Pegasus Stargates are orbital: they lead to open space, something never seen in the Milky Way. These apparently have no DHD, and are used exclusively for spacecraft travel, specifically that of the Puddle Jumper ship-class and the enemy Wraith Darts. Orbital Stargates are powered by three power nodes spaced equally along the outer ring. These nodes take the place of the standard DHD in powering the Stargate. The Puddle Jumpers have inbuilt DHDs making travel back through these gates possible, and it appears that Wraith Darts have a similar capability, as they were able to open a wormhole remotely during their first encounter with the Atlantis team.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>
The Atlantis Stargate also features a protective force field which can prevent enemy travellers or weapons from rematerializing, much like the Iris installed on Earth's Stargate by the SGC. A similar technology appeared in Stargate SG-1, where it was used by Anubis to protect his super soldier production facility; however, this shield could be safely penetrated by wearing a super solider's armor.
The Atlantis Stargate's symbols
*This origin symbol is unique to the Stargate in Atlantis. Other Stargates have their own unique origin symbols.
Ori "Supergates"
Image:Supergate.jpg In the ninth season of Stargate SG-1, it was discovered that the Ancients, originally called the Alterans, were not native to the Milky Way, but originated from another galaxy more distant from Earth than the Pegasus galaxy.
While it is not known what the Stargates in the Origin galaxy look like, their presence is implied by the fact that the Ori (Alterans who remained behind and did not follow the others of their kind to the Milky Way) were able to send Priors (religious messengers) to the Milky Way through a Stargate. Since the transport rings used in the Origin galaxy are white and pearly in appearance, it is fair to assume that the Origin Stargates have a similar appearance. Any gates in the Origin galaxy would far predate both the Pegasus system gates and the Milky Way system gates.
The Ori have demonstrated a far greater knowledge of Stargates and wormhole physics than anyone in the Milky Way with the possible exception of the Ancients. On at least two occasions<ref name="beachhead">Template:Cite episode</ref><ref name="camelot">Template:Cite episode</ref> they attempted to create a massive Stargate, 300 to 400 metres in diameter, which was made of individual modules which formed the ring around what Lt. Col. Carter called a "Supergate". The lack of an inner track on the supergate suggests that it must be remotely dialed. By means of a blackhole this connection is permanent.
Making of the Stargate
Props
Image:Iris prop.jpg The actual prop used to depict the Stargate on the SG-1 series comes in various forms. The one present at the SGC is a permanent prop, and hence is three-dimensionally accurate. At least two other Stargate props exist; a perfectly 2-dimensional prop which is always filmed directly front-on, and a semi-3-dimensional prop. This second prop is shaped like a jar-lid (visible in the picture at the top of this article), and hence is always filmed from an angle to preserve the illusion. The Iris is actually a further prop without any moving parts. To film a Stargate with a closed Iris, the prop is fitted in place. The "kawoosh" effect is actually a recording of high-pressure air being blasted into a massive tank of water. The lighting effects, especially those seen on the walls or in the surrounding environment when a Stargate is active, are actually produced by shining light through water. In some circumstances, as shown in DVD special features, these effects are created by shining light onto a large sheet of Aluminium; the light then reflects off the Aluminium and onto the environment.
Computer graphics
The event horizon effect is the most obvious element added in post-production. A CGI image of rippling water is superimposed onto footage of the Stargate prop. Footage of the Iris opening and closing is also computer generated. The visual effects for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are produced by the studio Rainmaker. However, the Stargate in SGC also has a screen with a rear-projection "puddle" effect that is often used when the open Stargate is simply sitting open in the background. Stargates are also sometimes rendered in complete computer graphics, usually when they are to be depicted in space.
Other uses of the Stargate concept
The basic concept of a Stargate did not originate with the movie Stargate. Several science fiction writers have previously used the concept of devices creating portals spanning interstellar distances. The more prominent cases are mentioned below.
- Arthur C. Clarke first coined the term "Star Gate" in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as a fictional device allowing rapid travel between distant locations. Clarke’s "Star Gate" does not resemble the one described in this article, nevertheless, Stargate SG-1 paid homage to Clarke in the two episodes "2001" and "2010," which correspond to the first two books in his Space Odyssey series: 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two.
- Robert A. Heinlein used Stargate-like devices in several novels (called "gates" in a least two cases), including Tunnel in The Sky (1955), Glory Road (1963) and possibly for surface travel by the Martian elders in Red Planet (1949).
- Andre Norton's Witch World (1963) was colonized by humans and other races using such portals.
- In the Star Trek universe, the Guardian of Forever is an incredibly sophisticated stargate-like device which can open spacetime portals to any point in history on any world in the universe. The Guardian was first seen in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (1967) and later in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Yesteryear" (1974). The Guardian roughly resembles the Stargate in appearance (ring-shaped with a watery "event horizon") and in design (used to open wormholes allowing nearly instantaneous travel over great distances).
- The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Contagion" features an alien portal known as a gateway, which could instantly transport those who stepped through it to a distant location. Another such device appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "To The Death"; this version had an angular frame and slight ripple effect.
- In C. J. Cherryh's Morgaine series (1976), the gates' potential for facilitating time travel makes them a danger to causality and therefore to the future of civilization. The title character is engaged on a centuries-long quest that takes her from world to world via the gates, setting each gate to self-destruct just after she has used it to move on to the next.
- In the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981), travel between stars was also accomplished by a stargate network. (This is similar to jumpgates in other series.) In the television series, the first ship through a stargate makes a short trip across the solar system. Networks of stargates are subsequently developed to link trading planets throughout the Earth Federation and beyond, each stargate carrying a designation such as "Stargate 4." These stargates however were only shown as a diamond-shaped quartet of stars that shimmered when a vessel was making transit.
- Alan Dean Foster used a gate-like device in his novel "The I Inside" (1984).
- Dan Simmons' Hyperion universe (1989) contains devices called "farcasters" which permit instantaneous travel between them via dialed or permanent connections. Farcasters can be either terrestrial in the form of doors or rings, or orbital in the form of rings. These were discovered to be part of a plot by the AI TechnoCore to use human brainpower to assist in the creation of the "Ultimate Intelligence", a sort of machine God. After this was discovered, the farcaster network was destroyed in 2852 AD.
- In a Star Wars novel, an ancient system of "Hypergates" were used by an extinct alien species known as the Gree Enclave. These were nowhere near as sophisticated as the "Gates" of the Stargate Universe, and are considered an inferior technology to the abundant "hyper-drives" of the Star Wars universe.
- In the 1982 Fringeworthy role-playing game, travellers use a device that very much resembles a stargate to travel to other dimensions. It was also built by an ancient race long gone. Some members of the gaming industry have claimed that the movie Stargate directly plagiarized from this game.<ref name="fringeworthy">Template:Cite web</ref>
- In Jak 3 the warp gates are similar to a stargate, they are rings conaining a rippling blue substance used for transportation.
- In the Freespace games, humans discover gigantic, ship-sized rings (called "Knossos portals") used for faster-than-light travel. The portals are said to be created by a race known as the Ancients, and used to connect places in space that are not naturally connected by the network of jump nodes that allow space vessels interstellar travel.
- In the Turok the Dinosaur Hunter video games, various ring-shaped portals could be activated and used to travel to other worlds in the game. The portals in the original game bear a remarkable similarity to those in Stargate SG-1. The portals in sub-sequent games varied slightly.
- In the recent Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, for the Nintendo Gamecube, there are a number of ring-shaped dimensional portals throughout the game. These are used by both the main character, Samus Aran, and Space Pirates to travel between a "Light" and "Dark" version of a planet. These portals are also very similar to a Stargate.
- In the game Homeworld 2 for PC, a device referred to as a "Hyperspace Gate" serves as the centerpiece of one of the game's final missions. It is shaped and fuctions much like the Stargate; a massive ring that creates a wormhole capable of transporting matter great distances. The Hyperspace Gate is the only way to access the centre of the Homeworld galaxy, a place called "Balcora" where the presence of three super-massive black holes makes normal Hyperspace travel impossible. At the end of the game, a large-scale network of Hyperspace gates are activated by the "Eye of Arran", much like the Stargate networks in the Milky Way and Pegasus.
- Author Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince writes of "The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt." These alternative theories are speculative at best, but shows how the authors love to engrain the term Stargate to Egypt's past. Either the pyramid itself is a gateway to the stars (because of the shafts pointing to a star) or the building of Heaven on Earth based on geographical location of the great and outlying pyramids (c.f. the constellation of Orion)
- The PC game Outcast by Appeal features stargate-like devices called the Daoka that can be used to travel between the many regions of the game world Adelpha.
- In ReBoot, a technologically made 'portal' created by the characters of Megabyte and Dot (in two separate episodes) bare a similarity to that of the Stargate, including the event horizon ripple effect.
- The PC game Master of Orion by Microprose features Stargates that can be built to orbit individual star systems. These 'stargates' allow instantaneous transportation of spaceships to any other star system with its own stargate.
- The PC game Warcraft 3 by Blizzard Entertainment features gate-like devices called Waygates that allows units to teleport between gates on the map.
- In the game Primal by SCEE devices called Rift Gates allow instantaneous travel between locations.
- In the PS2 game Drakan: The Ancient's Gates, the player must reopen four large gateways to save the world from an evil race of sorcerers. Once a gateway is opened, the player can travel through to another location on the planet.
See also
- Stargate SG-1
- Stargate Atlantis
- List of Stargate SG-1 episodes
- List of Stargate Atlantis episodes
- List of Technology in the Stargate universe
- Stargate Portal
References
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