Maps
Ryan McReynolds
>
> Does anyone know of a good trek site with maps???
There are no accurate, official maps in existence. Every map you will
see is someone's interpretation of things, which, as seen in the new DS9
Tech Manual, is almost always more than a little bit wrong. Even that
manual's galactic map is in part out of proportion by a factor of 100;
DS9 is 50 light years from Earth according to the text as well as on
screen evidence, but the map shows it at around 5,000. Most likely that
section is enlarged to show the relative positions of the various
"empires" and such.
If you'd like more specific information, ask and I'll be happy to
provide.
-McReynolds
Simon Nicholson
Database
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8571 . I've tried to make them as
realistic as possible.
You'll find the maps under the "Where in the Galaxy...?" section.
Thanks, Simon Nicholson.
Ryan McReynolds wrote in message <3622B020...@mail.utexas.edu>...
Ryan McReynolds
>
> You'll find some Voyager galaxy maps at my homepage, Annorax's Voyager
> Database
> http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8571 . I've tried to make them as
> realistic as possible.
>
> You'll find the maps under the "Where in the Galaxy...?" section.
I've seen your maps before. They're quite nice, and fairly accurate
based on a lot of sources, especially your Delta Quadrant detail maps.
I'm very impressed. However, your map of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants
don't stand up to evidence both on screen and off. The problem is that,
ever since the original TOS Tech Manual came out, and especially since
the TNG Tech Journal, people have assumed that each of the "empires" is
a big glob of space. Particularly in the case of the Federation, there
is no reason to assume that "Federation space" is anything more than
each star system claimed by the Federation and perhaps support lines
between them. We learn in the DS9 Tech Manual that Bajor is 50 ly from
Earth. The Cardassians' entire industrial base is 15 planets
surrounding Cardassia! The Cardassian Union is not a big glob of space,
it is an ovoid bubble perhaps 20 ly around, located 50 ly from Earth!
It is their military strength that makes them a threat, not the sheer
size of their empire. Incidentally, on a clock, the Cardassians are
shown in the DS9 Tech Manual to be at 9:00. The Federation itself has a
mere 150 members, spread across 8,000 ly according to Picard in "First
Contact." 150 members in 8,000 ly is not very many. And what of all of
the worlds in between, all of the thousands of potential species in
between who may not be up to Federation membership standards? Are they
just arbitrarily in Federation space because of their location? Of
course not. The Federation has got to be composed of "bubbles" as
well. Each member star system would have a bubble around it, perhaps 2
ly in diameter; in the case of the core worlds which are all near by,
one big bubble would suffice. Also, any member colonies, protectorates,
and even uninhabited planets claimed by the Federation would have
bubbles around their star systems as well. If we assume many of the
closer ones are connected, the Federation would basically look like a
lot of amoebas splattered across 8,000 ly. The Klingons and Romulans
are slightly different. They likely would claim any planet that
happened to fall under their jurisdiction. However, we've seen that
neither has enough representation of less significant species to even
make their presence apparent. So, I'd place each of the Romulans in an
ovoid bubble 100 ly at most (conveniently identical to the ovoid Romulan
Neutral Zone seen on screen in "The Wrath of Khan") located about 50 ly
from Earth at 2:00, and the Klingons in a distended amoeba blob some 100
ly from Earth at 4:30. I've made maps before, but always of the "big
glob" school of cartography. I might just set to work on this version
pretty soon. I'll post the URL when I do it, for those interested.
-McReynolds