Wormhole junction

A wormhole junction was a stable gravitic anomaly, a flaw in normal space providing access via hyper-space between widely separated points. It consisted of a central wormhole, the nexus, and its associated termini.These generally located wlthin a series of Wormhole Clusters

The termini were sometimes hundreds of light years away from the central nexus and from each other. Travel through the wormhole by hyper-capable ships was possible and allowed rapid travel to places that otherwise might take weeks, months, or even years to reach. Ships could travel from the nexus to any terminus, and from a terminus to the nexus, but direct travel between termini was impossible.

The Stargate is a piece of transportation technology,used by various elder races and newer races by way of star shlps.

1.1 Components

1.2 Functions

1.3 Dialing

1.4 Transit

1.5 Susceptibilities

1.6 Durability

2 Versions

2.1 Milky Way

2.2 Tollan Stargate

2.3 Orlin's Stargate

3 Gallery

Overview

Components

The Stargate is made of Naquadah. (Stargate)

Functions

Stargates act as giant superconductors and are capable of absorbing energy in many different forms such as heat, nuclear, solar and static. Stargates create artificial wormholes and transfer charged matter along lines of force outside of our dimension. The internal functions of the Stargate will convert and store energy in capacitor-like reservoirs. Once enough reserve power has been store the inner wheel will unlock. (SG1: "Solitudes", "The Torment of Tantalus", "The Nox")

When active the Stargate will create a subspace field as well as generating an enormous electrical field. A dialing device such as a Dial Home Device will generate electrical impulses to instruct the Stargate's various functions. (SG1: "Window of Opportunity", "Prodigy", "48 Hours")

Technology > Technology Levels > Transapientech / Godtech / Clarketech

Wormhole stations located near, and within, wormholes

Wormhole Size Comparison

Image from Chris Shaeffer

Size Comparison The Transition Zone around a standard traversable wormhole, compared to the size of the Old Solar System (Solsys). This zone must be free of any massive object, such as a star, planet or moderately large asteroid. For this reason wormholes are situated far from the centre of most planetary systems

Wormhole termini are permanent space stations, supporting customs systems, defense outposts, communications links and so on, which are located near a traversable wormhole. A wormhole is a very extensive, highly distorted region in spacetime, and termini that are located in normal space outside the wormhole must be at least 327 AU from the wormhole throat. Such termini are known as Entry and Exit stations, and experience no tidal effects from the wormhole itself.

However it is possible to locate wormhole termini closer to the throat, within the so-called Transition zone, which extends from 327 AU to 3 AU from the wormhole throat. These stations, known as Transition Stations, are affected by tidal effects from the wormhole to a greater or lesser extent, but these effects are manageable. A macroscale traversable wormhole, known also as a Morris-Thorne-Kuhfittig wormhole, can be regarded as an extended object which distorts space-time over a much larger volume than a black hole of equivalent mass. Larger stations need to be further from the centre of the wormhole to avoid excessive effects.

Not all wormholes have Transition stations; many wormholes do not have Entry and Exit stations either, while some have both.

Because Transition stations are in circular orbits, they experience minimal shear stress from the local curvature of spacetime around the wormhole. However craft accelerating towards or away from such orbiting stations will experience shear stresses, which increase in strength towards the inner edge of the Transition Zone.

Transition Stations and spacecraft awaiting a path through the hole may remain in the Transition zone, as long as the total mass of such structures does not exceed 1% of the mass of the `hole itself. Traversable wormholes are very massive, particularly in the Inner Sphere and Middle Regions, so such limits are rarely a concern. The Transition zone is an expanse of empty space surrounding the wormhole which must be kept free from massive objects in order to maintain the requirement for a region of asymptotically flat space surrounding the hole.

Einstein Station

Image from Chris Shaeffer

Einstein Station, located near the Einstein Gate between Sol and Tau Ceti

Inside the Transition zone is a region of increasingly curved space-time called the Vortex which is 3 AU in radius. Permanent structures cannot be located here, and spacecraft in this region are either moving radially towards the `hole, or accelerating radially out of the hole after arrival. The Vortex zone and the 'hole itself together are sometimes known collectively as the starportal or stargate.

Appearance

From the vantage point of a Transition station just outside the Vortex zone, the distant wormhole throat is 3 AU away and is too small to be seen. Some minor distortion of background starfields may give the location away. Periodically a departing spacecraft may move off in the direction of the starportal. Before reaching the wormhole throat the ship must pass across the Vortex zone, where spacetime becomes increasingly distorted. As seen from such a craft, as it approaches the hole the distortion of background starfields becomes more and more apparent.

Grapeship

Image from Steve Bowers

A Grapeship carries a number of smaller units which come together and separate to travel to different destinations on route

Near the 'hole the most noticable effect at first is the divergent lens effect surrounding the wormhole throat. The throat itself is a spherical region of highly curved spacetime, which can be difficult to see; some stray light from stars at the far end sometimes comes through, but that light is distorted, and dispersed by the curvature of the throat. Stars near or behind the wormhole will also have their light bent by the hole's gravity. This can cause "Einstein ring" phenomena, as well as increased brightness of stars nearly behind the wormhole due to gravitational lensing.

Surrounding the spherical throat there is a very thin region of highly distorted space time called the Caustic. Multiple images of external objects can briefly seen as light rays wind around this region of sharply distorted space-time. If looking perpendicular to the path that gets you through the hole, a highly distorted image of the spacecraft may be seen since the light emitted will have gone a full circle. Unlike a mirror, a person in that location would see the back of his head; however the this image would be distorted to a band encircling the wormhole throat. In theory there should be an infinite series of such images, but the closest image would block line of sight to the others. If two craft pass through at the same time each can see an infinite set of (increasingly small) images of the other, resembling a row of beads.

wormhole godtech layer

Image from Steve Bowers

The layer of godtech that stabilises the wormhole may take many forms. Such layers are also very difficult to observe, because of the optical distortions in this region. Here is an image of the godtech layer around one wormhole with the optical distortions removed to show the structure.

The Caustic is maintained by a somewhat thicker layer of god-tech, which has a number of apertures to allow the passage of spacecraft. This layer of godtech is extremely active maintaining the hole against instabilities, and this activity causes the layer to glow with waste heat (which may be in the visible spectrum). Somewhere imbedded in the layer of godtech (or perhaps in the spacetime of the 'hole itself) is the transapient entity which keeps the 'hole open. Some wormholes are controlled by a dedicated/slaved transapient AI system that is basically just a tool of the AI gods who create the wormholes; others are controlled by a true archai which may or may not be communicative.

The passage through the `hole itself is lit only by highly distorted light that has entered from either end; light from the stars visible at either end, and some light emitted by the god tech layer. This region is known as the Netherworld; a number of legends have grown up around this region, but it is a place of real danger, as a ship travelling too fast will be ripped apart by tidal effects. The ship then passes through the Caustic at the far end, and accelerates to pass through the Vortex until it reaches the far terminus.

wormhole metric

Image from Steve Bowers

Optical distortions around a wormhole throat make it difficult to observe, even from a relatively small distance

Traffic Regulation

It is interesting to note that tidal forces in a wormhole are velocity dependent — vessels travelling through the starportal at greater speed experience greater tidal forces. For this reason there is an optimum size for vessels passing through, a balance between a rapid transit and a safe margin around the outside of the craft. A fast ship may be limited in a particular wormhole to a diameter of 100 metres; larger ships disassemble during the approach phase in order to present a smaller cross-section during passage. Some ships, such as grapeships, arrive in the Vortex as clusters of smaller units which separate to pass through the throat. They then reassemble on the other side- this allows them to use larger drive units during the acceleration phases as the ship climbs down into and up out of the hole.

In the modern era larger wormholes are common in the Inner Sphere or Middle Regions, with a circumference of more than 3 kilometers (and therefore an effective diameter of around a kilometer). Two-way traffic through such large 'holes can easily be accommodated, for craft up to half a kilometer in diameter. Traffic through a wormhole in the Inner Sphere or Middle Regions may be intense, all coordinated by AIs with reflexes millions of times faster than any human traffic controller. It is sometimes hard for a near-baseline human to imagine it. Indeed, some hu suffer from anxiety reactions and develop phobias. Fear of wormhole transit is a not uncommon, albeit minor and relatively easily treated, psychopathology in the modern galaxy.

Smaller holes, such as those found in the Outer volumes (or 'holes in historical accounts of the early days of wormhole development) can only accommodate very slow craft, or very small craft, or craft travelling in one direction only. If the ships that pass through the throat fill that space entirely, obviously only one ship can pass through at a time; the 'hole becomes a bottleneck. In such cases traffic has to pass through in each direction alternately - the outermost part of the Transition region can hold a very large number craft waiting to take their turn. Passage through the hole, even in a modern vessel, takes at least thirty-two days, so these stacked craft can have a long wait. In periods of heavy traffic the Transition region around such a small 'hole may hold hundreds, or thousands of vessels waiting to pass through.

see also

Stargates have massive amounts of memory which is uses to temporarily store travelers energy patterns before reintegration; this is done so the Stargate has all the information required before assembling the traveler. If the dialing Stargate loses power the receiving Stargate can provide the power needed to finish reintegration. Each time the Stargate is activated it will wipe the buffer so new patterns do not mix with old ones. (SG1: "48 Hours")

Dialing

When a Glyph is lined up with the Chevron at the top of the Stargate, a charge of energy is delivered which locks the symbol. The top chevron will light up and lock down and the corresponding chevron will also light up. Once the seventh chevron is locked, the wormhole will open. Dialing procedures are controlled by the Dial Home Device or in some cases some other form of mechanical or computer control system. (Stargate, SG1: "The Torment of Tantalus", "Children of the Gods")

Stargates are incapable of creating a wormhole if there are not within a relatively fixed position such as on a planet. A Stargate can dial a location millions of light years away when supplied with extra power. (SG1: "Within the Serpent's Grasp", "The Fifth Race", "Point of View")

Transit

The Stargate is capable of transmitting both matter and energy. Matter that is 180 degrees out of phase; and energies such as subatomic particles like those from a Particle accelerator and even ascended beings can still be transmitted through the wormhole. Energies such as radio and video signals can be transmitted through the Stargate and sometimes can be negatively affected by subspace interference. (SG1: "Show and Tell", "Serpent's Song", "Maternal Instinct", "The Other Side")

The Stargate is capable of using density, molecular structure and force exerted on the event horizon to determine whether something is trying to pass through. An object will under most circumstance exit the receiving Stargate at the same velocity which it entered the dialing Stargate. Exceptions to this occur when the Stargate is provided with excess energy, resulting in greater exit velocities. (SG1: "Watergate", "Upgrades", "Solitudes")

Susceptibilities

Stargates can only maintain a wormhole for 38 minutes at a time however a wormhole can be maintained for longer periods of time such as when one of the Stargates is exposed to an excess of energy. The maximum amount of time a wormhole can be maintained can exceed 38 minutes if a time dilation field affects one of the Stargates. If energy is directed into the wrong conduit, the Stargate can explode. (SG1: "There But for the Grace of God", "Chain Reaction", "A Matter of Time", "48 Hours")

If a Stargate has extra energy directed into it, it can cause the wormhole to jump to a nearby Stargate and will cause any travelers to exit at a greater velocity than what they entered. Certain energies can access the Stargate's subspace field and create a time inversion outside of subspace. If a Stargate has a large enough object blocking the inner ring it will prevent a wormhole from forming. (SG1: "Solitudes", "Touchstone", "Window of Opportunity", "Children of the Gods", "New Ground")

Durability

The Stargate is incredibly durable capable of surviving a direct hit from a meteor and survive planetary re-entry with no visible damage. A Stargate can also survive the intense heat and pressure of a star for a few seconds. (SG1, "A Hundred Days", "Chain Reaction", "Nemesis", "Watergate", "Exodus")

Versions

Milky Way

A series of Stargates exist in a vast network in the Milky Way galaxy. At least one of these Stargates also exists in the Ida galaxy.

Tollan Stargate

Main article: Tollan Stargate

The Tollan constructed their own Stargate with help from the Nox. This Stargate is thinner and smaller than other versions and not as durable. (SG1: "Pretense", "Between Two Fires")

Orlin's Stargate

Main article: Orlin's Stargate

The de-ascended being Orlin constructed a small single-use Stargate on Earth using everyday materials. (SG1: "Ascension")

Gallery

When a ship entered a junction, it actually ceased to exist in the normal space-time continuum for an instant.

The concept of wormhole junctions was first theorized byDr. Shigematsu Radhakrishnan. 

Known wormhole junctions
Wormholes that only allowed there-and-back travel between two termini were commonly referred to ashyper bridgesorwormhole bridges.
 * Asgard Wormhole Junction- three termini
 * Erewhon Wormhole Junction- two termini
 * Felix Wormhole Junction- four termini
 * Manticore Wormhole Junction- seven termini
 * Visigoth Wormhole Junction- two termini
 * Yildun Wormhole Junction- two termini

There were also quasi-wormhole junctions, such as theSGC-902-36-G Wormhole Anomaly, thePhoenix Junctionor the one between theGregor Terminusof the Manticore Wormhole Junction and theDurandel Terminusof the Asgard Wormhole Junction.