From: tallman@ailanthus.com (Robert Oliver)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
Subject: STARDATES (repost)
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 23:31:52 EDT
Reply-To: tallman@ailanthus.com (Robert Oliver)
Organization: Ailanthus Project

***** As per a request here is a repost of my stardate information. Since 
the initial post I have had numerous conversations via e-mail regarding 
the viability of this system. I don't want to be rude but I've talked 
about this so much that it has become annoying and tiresome. There are 
only so many times that I can keep relating the same information and 
theories to various people before I start to go mad. If you have any 
detailed questions or comments I would suggest posting them to the net 
where everybody can get into the fun of trying to work this out.
 
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
REVISED STARDATE SYSTEM * SOL SYSTEM
 
SD        RD        EVENT
9521        2294?        Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (This is 
an old system stardate)
 
The stardate system apparantly changed sometime in this timeframe. I 
assume they would start at SD 10000 to avoid conflicts with the previous 
system, but this leaves about a 39 year gap between the two systems. It 
is possible that the Federation changed to a completely different 
timekeeping system during this period that had nothing to do with the old 
one or the TNG one. Who knows?
 
STANDARD YEAR
1000 Stardate units in each year of 365 days
Each day has a range of  2.739726027397 SD units
 
LEAP YEAR (not calculated here)
1000 Stardate units in each year of 366 days
Each day has a range of 2.732240437158 SD units
A leap year has an extra day--February 29
 
10000        2333
11000        2334
12000        2335
13000        2336
14000        2337
15000        2338
16000        2339
17000        2340
18000        2341
19000        2342
20000        2343
21000        2344
22000        2345
23000        2346        
24000        2347
25000        2348
26000        2349
27000        2350
28000        2351
29000        2352
30000        2353
31000        2354
32000        2355
33000        2356
34000        2357
35000        2358
36000        2359
37000        2360
38000        2361
39000        2362
40000        2363  SEE BELOW FOR SAMPLE DAY BREAKDOWN
41000        2364        
42000        2365        
43000        2366        
44000        2367        
45000        2368
46000        2369
 
SAMPLE YEAR: 2363 * 40000 - 40999
 
001 January 01 * 40002.7 (40002.7 being midnight on the 1st)
002 January 02 * 40005.4 
003 January 03 * 40008.2 
004 January 04 * 40010.9 
005 January 05 * 40013.6 
006 January 06 * 40016.4 
007 January 07 * 40019.1 
008 January 08 * 40021.9 
009 January 09 * 40024.6 
010 January 10 * 40027.3 
011 January 11 * 40030.1 
012 January 12 * 40032.8 
013 January 13 * 40035.6 
014 January 14 * 40038.3 
015 January 15 * 40041.0 
016 January 16 * 40043.8
017 January 17 * 40046.5
018 January 18 * 40049.3
019 January 19 * 40052.0
020 January 20 * 40054.7
021 January 21 * 40057.5
022 January 22 * 40060.2
023 January 23 * 40063.0
024 January 24 * 40065.7
025 January 25 * 40068.4
026 January 26 * 40071.2
027 January 27 * 40073.9
028 January 28 * 40076.7
029 January 29 * 40079.4
030 January 30 * 40082.1
031 Janaury 31 * 40084.9  
 
032 February 01 * 40087.6
033 February 02 * 40090.4
034 February 03 * 40093.1
035 February 04 * 40095.8
036 February 05 * 40098.6
037 February 06 * 40101.3
038 February 07 * 40104.1
039 February 08 * 40106.8
040 February 09 * 40109.5
041 February 10 * 40112.3
042 February 11 * 40115.0
043 February 12 * 40117.8
044 February 13 * 40120.5
045 February 14 * 40123.2
046 February 15 * 40126.0
047 February 16 * 40128.7
048 February 17 * 40131.5
049 February 18 * 40134.2
050 February 19 * 40136.9
051 February 20 * 40139.7
052 February 21 * 40142.4
053 February 22 * 40145.2
054 February 23 * 40147.9
055 February 24 * 40150.6
056 February 25 * 40153.4
057 February 26 * 40156.1
058 February 27 * 40158.9
059 February 28 * 40161.6
 
060 March 01 * 40164.3
061 March 02 * 40167.1
062 March 03 * 40169.8
063 March 04 * 40172.6
064 March 05 * 40175.3
065 March 06 * 40178.0
066 March 07 * 40180.8
067 March 08 * 40183.5
068 March 09 * 40186.3
069 March 10 * 40189.0
070 March 11 * 40191.7
071 March 12 * 40194.5
072 March 13 * 40197.2
073 March 14 * 40200.0
074 March 15 * 40202.7
075 March 16 * 40205.4
076 March 17 * 40208.2
077 March 18 * 40210.9
078 March 19 * 40213.6
079 March 20 * 40216.4
080 March 21 * 40219.1
081 March 22 * 40221.9
082 March 23 * 40224.6
083 March 24 * 40227.3
084 March 25 * 40230.1
085 March 26 * 40232.8
086 March 27 * 40235.6
087 March 28 * 40238.3
088 March 29 * 40241.0
089 March 30 * 40243.8
090 March 31 * 40246.5
 
091 April 01 * 40249.3 
092 April 02 * 40252.0
093 April 03 * 40254.7
094 April 04 * 40257.5
095 April 05 * 40260.2
096 April 06 * 40263.0
097 April 07 * 40265.7
098 April 08 * 40268.4
099 April 09 * 40271.2
100 April 10 * 40273.9
101 April 11 * 40276.1
102 April 12 * 40279.4
103 April 13 * 40282.1
104 April 14 * 40284.9
105 April 15 * 40287.6
106 April 16 * 40290.4
107 April 17 * 40293.1
108 April 18 * 40295.8
109 April 19 * 40298.6
110 April 20 * 40301.3
111 April 21 * 40304.1
112 April 22 * 40306.8
113 April 23 * 40309.5
114 April 24 * 40312.3
115 April 25 * 40315.0
116 April 26 * 40317.8
117 April 27 * 40320.5
118 April 28 * 40323.2
119 April 29 * 40326.0
120 April 30 * 40328.7
 
121 May 01 * 40331.5
122 May 02 * 40334.2
123 May 03 * 40336.9
124 May 04 * 40339.7
125 May 05 * 40342.4
126 May 06 * 40345.2
127 May 07 * 40347.9
128 May 07 * 40350.6
129 May 08 * 40353.4
130 May 10 * 40356.1
131 May 11 * 40358.9
132 May 12 * 40361.6
133 May 13 * 40364.3
134 May 14 * 40367.1
135 May 15 * 40369.8
136 May 16 * 40372.6
137 May 17 * 40375.3
138 May 18 * 40378.0
139 May 19 * 40380.8
140 May 20 * 40383.5
141 May 21  40386.3
142 May 22 * 40389.0
143 May 23 * 40391.7
144 May 24 * 40394.5
145 May 25 * 40397.2
146 May 26 * 40400.0
147 May 27 * 40402.7
148 May 28 * 40405.4
149 May 29 * 40408.2
150 May 30 * 40410.9
151 May 31 * 40413.6
 
152 June 01 * 40416.4
153 June 02 * 40419.1
154 June 03 * 40421.9
155 June 04 * 40424.6
156 June 05 * 40427.3
157 June 06 * 40430.1
158 June 07 * 40432.8
159 June 08 * 40435.6
160 June 09 * 40438.3
161 June 10 * 40441.0
162 June 11 * 40443.8
163 June 12 * 40446.5
164 June 13 * 40449.3
165 June 14 * 40452.0
166 June 15 * 40454.7
167 June 16 * 40457.5
168 June 17 * 40460.2
169 June 18 * 40463.0
170 June 19 * 40465.7
171 June 20 * 40468.4
172 June 21 * 40471.2
173 June 22 * 40473.9
174 June 23 * 40476.7
175 June 24 * 40479.4
176 June 25 * 40482.1
177 June 26 * 40484.9
178 June 27 * 40487.6
179 June 28 * 40490.4
180 June 29 * 40493.1
181 June 30 * 40495.8
 
182 July 01 * 40498.6 (For comparison: leap year, day 183 = 40499.9)
183 July 02 * 40501.3
184 July 03 * 40504.1
185 July 04 * 40506.8
186 July 05 * 40509.5
187 July 06 * 40512.3
188 July 07 * 40515.0
189 July 08 * 40517.8
190 July 09 * 40520.5
191 July 10 * 40523.2
192 July 11 * 40526.0
193 July 12 * 40528.7
194 July 13 * 40531.5
195 July 14 * 40534.2
196 July 15 * 40536.9
197 July 16 * 40539.7
198 July 17 * 40542.4
199 July 18 * 40545.2
200 July 19 * 40547.9
201 July 20 * 40550.6
202 July 21 * 40553.4
203 July 22 * 40556.1
204 July 23 * 40558.9
205 July 24 * 40561.6
206 July 25 * 40564.3
207 July 26 * 40567.1
208 July 27 * 40569.8
209 July 28 * 40572.6
210 July 29 * 40575.3
211 July 30 * 40578.0
212 July 31 * 40580.8
 
213 August 01 * 40583.5
214 August 02 * 40585.3
215 August 03 * 40589.0
216 August 04 * 40591.7
217 August 05 * 40594.5
218 August 06 * 40597.2
219 August 07 * 40599.9
220 August 08 * 40602.7
221 August 09 * 40605.4
222 August 10 * 40608.2
223 August 11 * 40610.9
224 August 12 * 40613.6
225 August 13 * 40616.4
226 August 14 * 40619.1
227 August 15 * 40621.9
228 August 16 * 40624.6
229 August 17 * 40627.3
230 August 18 * 40630.1
231 August 19 * 40632.8
232 August 20 * 40635.6
233 August 21 * 40638.3
234 August 22 * 40641.0
235 August 23 * 40643.8
236 August 24 * 40646.5
237 August 25 * 40649.3
238 August 26 * 40652.0
239 August 27 * 40654.7
240 August 28 * 40657.5
241 August 29 * 40660.2
242 August 30 * 40663.0
243 August 31 * 40665.7
 
244 September 01 * 40668.4
245 September 0 * 40671.2
246 September 03 * 40673.9
247 September 04 * 40676.7
248 September 05 * 40679.4
249 September 06 * 40682.1
250 September 07 * 40684.9
251 September 08 * 40687.6
252 September 09 * 40690.4
253 September 10 * 40693.1
254 September 11 * 40695.8
255 September 12 * 40698.6
256 September 13 * 40701.3
257 September 14 * 40704.1
258 September 15 * 40706.8
259 September 16 * 40709.5
260 September 17 * 40712.3
261 September 18 * 40715.0
262 September 19 * 40717.8
263 September 20 * 40720.5
264 September 21 * 40723.2
265 September 22 * 40726.0
266 September 23 * 40728.7
267 September 24 * 40731.5
268 September 25 * 40734.2
269 September 26 * 40736.9
270 September 27 * 40739.7
271 September 28 * 40742.4
272 September 29 * 40745.2
273 September 30 * 40747.9
 
274 October 01 * 40750.6 
275 October 02 * 40753.4
276 October 03 * 40756.1
277 October 04 * 40758.9
278 October 05 * 40761.6
279 October 06 * 40764.3
280 October 07 * 40767.1
281 October 08 * 40769.8
282 October 09 * 40772.6
283 October 10 * 40775.3
284 October 11 * 40778.0
285 October 12 * 40780.8
286 October 13 * 40783.5
287 October 14 * 40786.3
288 October 15 * 40789.0
289 October 16 * 40791.7
290 October 17 * 40794.5
291 October 18 * 40797.2
292 October 19 * 40799.9
293 October 20 * 40802.7
294 October 21 * 40805.4
295 October 22 * 40808.2
296 October 23 * 40810.9
297 October 24 * 40813.6
298 October 25 * 40816.4
299 October 26 * 40819.1
300 October 27 * 40821.9
301 October 28 * 40824.6
302 October 29 * 40827.3
303 October 30 * 40830.1
304 October 31 * 40832.8
 
305 November 01 * 40835.6
306 November 02 * 40838.3 
307 November 03 * 40841.0
308 November 04 * 40843.8
309 November 05 * 40846.5
310 November 06 * 40849.3
311 November 07 * 40852.0
312 November 08 * 40854.7
313 November 09 * 40857.5
314 November 10 * 40860.2
315 November 11 * 40863.0
316 November 12 * 40865.7
317 November 13 * 40868.4
318 November 14 * 40871.2
319 November 15 * 40873.9
320 November 16 * 40876.7
321 November 17 * 40879.4
322 November 18 * 40882.1
323 November 19 * 40884.9
324 November 20 * 40887.6
325 November 21 * 40890.4
326 November 22 * 40893.1
327 November 23 * 40895.8
328 November 24 * 40898.6
329 November 25 * 40901.3
330 November 26 * 40904.1
331 November 27 * 40906.8
332 November 28 * 40909.5
333 November 29 * 40912.3
334 November 30 * 40915.0
 
335 December 01 * 40917.8
336 December 02 * 40920.5
337 December 03 * 40923.2
338 December 04 * 40926.0
339 December 05 * 40928.7
340 December 06 * 40931.5
341 December 07 * 40934.2
342 December 08 * 40936.9
343 December 09 * 40939.7
344 December 10 * 40942.4
345 December 11 * 40945.2
346 December 12 * 40947.9
347 December 13 * 40950.6
348 December 14 * 40953.4
349 December 15 * 40956.1
350 December 16 * 40958.9
351 December 17 * 40961.6
352 December 18 * 40964.3
353 December 19 * 40967.1
354 December 20 * 40969.8
355 December 21 * 40972.6
356 December 22 * 40975.3
357 December 23 * 40978.0
358 December 24 * 40980.8
359 December 25 * 40983.5
360 December 26 * 40986.3
361 December 27 * 40989.0
362 December 28 * 40991.7
363 December 29 * 40994.5
364 December 30 * 40997.2
365 December 31 * 40999.9
 
*****
 
THE EVIDENCE:
 
1. The first part of the equation is to confirm the fact that each year 
contains 1000 stardate units. This is pretty easy if you look at the 6 
seasons and the way their stardates are ordered:
   
   Season 1: 41153 - 41986
   Season 2: 42073 - 42976
   Season 3: 43125 - 43989
   Season 4: 44001 - 44995
   Season 5: 45020 - 45965
   Season 6: 46001 - ?????
 
2. The second part is to find another stardate/real date correlation to 
support this. I found this date in the Khitomer Massacre. Using Worf's 
birth date of 2340 (taken from a poster that uses info from the series 
and the "Conundrum" episode, and which matches every canon reference made 
in the series) and the fact that he was 6 years old when the event 
occured (Season 3, "The Bonding") we know that the Khitomer Massacre 
happened in 2346. Working backward from Season 1, the stardate range for 
this time period should be in the 23000's. According to the ST:TNG 
Companion there is an Okudagram in the episode "Sins of the Father" that 
says that the USS Intrepid (on which Sergey Rozhenko was serving on) 
arrived at Khitomer on Stardate 23859.7.
 
3. Using this as proof that there are 1000 stardate units in each year I 
went ahead and calculated what the stardate would be for each calendar 
day. Because of the effects of "relativistic time dilation" this system 
is only accurate for the stardate in the Sol System, specifically Earth. 
How the stardate on Earth relates to various other parts of the galaxy is 
a complete mystery to me. The most glaring stardate discrepancy in TNG is 
the death of Tasha Yar. Below is a list of the episode in which she dies 
and the three episodes she appears in that have stardates higher than 
that.
 
   Skin of Evil                        SD 41601.3        Yar dies
   The Battle                        SD 41723.9        Yar appears
   The Arsenal of Freedom        SD 41798.2        Yar appears
   The Big Goodbye                SD 41997.7        Yar appears
 
The episodes were aired in a different order than their production order 
which is the real world explanation for the differences. Since season 2 
the episodes have almost all been in stardate order with only a few 
exceptions. One of the reasons that the TOS stardates were so screwed up 
(besides the fact that they didn't give much thought to it in the first 
place) was that episodes were rarely aired in order of production due to 
the lengthy time it took to do optical effects in the late 60's. An 
episode filmed before others might be delayed for weeks if there were 
numerous SFX in the episode. TNG, while having more numerous and 
complicated effects, makes use of modern digital compositing and editing 
equipment and 2 alternating SFX teams to handle its load.
   Another stardate out of order is in ST2, when the engineering log 
display shows that Spock died around SD 8128.78 when the first stardate 
mentioned in the movie is 8130.3. All these references indicate that the 
stardate is variable due to one's relative position (to Earth?) in the 
galaxy.
 
4. October 4, 2363 * SD 40759.5: Stardate at Utopia Planitia Yards, Mars 
for the USS Enterprise D commissioning ceremonies from the TNG Tech 
Manual. A math mistake on my early work on this system showed that these 
ceremonies would have taken place at noon on the 4th. However, after 
correcting my math, it turns out that this event took place on the 5th of 
October. Great, I thought to myself, it doesn't work! It was then that I 
remembered the reason I had screwed up the math in the first place--the 
Leap Year. My original short post on the net used a 365 day year but 
actually had an extra day that it shouldn't have had--February 29 (only 
appears in a leap year). Assuming that 2363 is a leap year (which I have 
since been told is not, although I have yet to check it out) then the 
stardate *is* correctly placed on the 4th (near midnight).
   Multiplying 2.732240437158 (1000 divided by 366) by 278 (adding one 
day to the normal count for Oct 4) the result is 759.5628415299
   I make no claim for devising this system as it is apparant that Mike 
Okuda worked this all out years ago (including leap years). His upcoming 
Star Trek Chronology (written with his wife Denise and currently 
scheduled for March 1993) will hopefully provide more information about 
stardates.
 
5. This system applies only to TNG. The TOS system is a confused mess 
that does not follow any sort of logic. We can assume that the movies use 
the same system as TOS but there isn't enough information to make any 
conclusion.
 
6. The Stardates in "Contagion" for Captain Varley's logs have the 
addition of a 24-hour Terran military clock. Using these times and the 
stardates it would appear that each stardate would equal about 8 hours. 
This is the only on-screen discrepancy that I am aware of that 
invalidates all of the work you see above. I will leave it to others to 
argue about this point.
 
The following conversions make no provision for leap years. I have not 
taken the time to work out which years are standard and which ones are 
leap years.
 
"REAL" DATE TO STARDATE SAMPLE CONVERSIONS (Sol System Only, date is at 
midnight)
 
2335 Feb 16 * Birth date of Geordi LaForge (Earth)
SD 12128.7
 
2335 Aug 19 * Birth date of William Riker (Earth)
SD 12635.6
 
2342 Apr 09 * Jean-Luc Picard fails to meet Janice in Paris
SD 19273.9
 
2343 Jul 06 * Original Galaxy class engine specs sent to Utopia Planitia
SD 20515.0
 
2344 Dec 24 * Revised Galaxy class engine specs sent to UP
SD 21980.8
 
2350 Jun 03 * Initial construction on Galaxy class Enterprise at UP
SD 27424.6
 
2356 Apr 16 * First all-up computer sim. demo of Galaxy class at UP
SD 33293.1
 
2356 May 05 * Galaxy class NX-70637 is made operational
SD 33345.2
 
STARDATES TO "REAL" DATE SAMPLE CONVERSIONS (Sol System Only)
 
"Conspiracy"           
SD 41780.2 * Enterprise at Earth * 2364, October 11
 
"Family"               
SD 44012.3 * Enterprise at Earth * 2367, January 5
 
"The First Duty"       
SD 45703.9 * Enterprise at Earth * 2368, September 13
 
"Time's Arrow, Part 1" 
SD 45959.1 * Enterprise at Earth * 2368, December 16

........
Robert Oliver, tallman@ailanthus.com
via Ailanthus Project +1 207-989-6562 - Brewer, Maine.
........
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc