Star Trek TOS Re-Watch

[scotpens]

. . . When people refer to the “edge” of the galaxy the immediate assumption is they’re referring to the outer edge of the galactic disc. But strictly speaking the upper and lower surfaces of the galactic disc are also edges. The real distinction is you’re crossing from interstellar space to intergalactic space so that line, wherever you’re crossing, is an edge or the edge between one area and another.

Another clue to the “edge” being referred to is more likely the upper or lower plane of the galactic disc is Kirk’s reference that Earth outposts once days away were now years in the distance. If they’re were at the outer edge of the galactic disc then those outposts would far more likely be at least weeks to months or even years away even at warp speeds.

In any case, there really is no definite "edge" to the galaxy. The stars just get sparser until at some point you find yourself in the intergalactic void. As David Gerrold said, "It's like trying to bisect a sneeze."

 

[Warped9]

In any case, there really is no definite "edge" to the galaxy. The stars just get sparser until at some point you find yourself in the intergalactic void. As David Gerrold said, "It's like trying to bisect a sneeze."

True enough. But humans do mark borders and we’ve been doing it for a very long time and will continue doing it. A lot of borders between countries are agreed upon lines even if there is no actual physical border visible beyond occasional features in the landscape like a river or something.

However, in WNMHGB we’re presented with an actual physical border between interstellar and intergalactic space in the form of the newly encountered energy barrier.

 

[Ssosmcin]

We have to take the barrier and all that with a grain of salt and on faith since the barrier is a thin strip that the ship should be able to go around. We're stuck with the information they gave us, both verbally and visually. Everything else is just "making it work" - but since I love this episode no end, I indulge. It just does seem weird that, in a way, everyone is kind of imprisoned in the galaxy by this barrier. Nobody would care because the galaxy is so vast, but once that barrier is discovered, I can't imagine it wouldn't be studied and a way found to penetrate. And since nobody got "Godded" in By Any Other Name and Is There is Truth No Beauty (allowing they crossed back through the barrier), I can assume they sussed it out.

Delta Vega is close enough to the barrier to get there in a few "light days." But since the warp drive is out, how long did it take for them to arrive? Regardless, it's far enough out for the ore ships to only call "once every 20 years." I'm fine with the planet being there, having a luthium cracking station and being fully automated.

 

[Warped9]

I have long imagined that the barrier was actually more than just a strip of energy, but that it was visible only when viewed at a particular angle. In that light maybe you can’t go over or under it and if you tried that part of the barrier would seem as if it’s always directly in front of or behind you.

Another possibility is the barrier could be a periodic or cyclical phenomena that just happened to be there when first the Valiant and later the Enterprise came along.

 

[Tallguy]

I have long imagined that the barrier was actually more than just a strip of energy, but that it was visible only when viewed at a particular angle. In that light maybe you can’t go over or under it and if you tried that part of the barrier would seem as if it’s always directly in front of or behind you.

Another possibility is the barrier could be a periodic or cyclical phenomena that just happened to be there when first the Valiant and later the Enterprise came along.

Yeah, it's not a fence.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Nobody would care because the galaxy is so vast, but once that barrier is discovered, I can't imagine it wouldn't be studied and a way found to penetrate. And since nobody got "Godded" in By Any Other Name and Is There is Truth No Beauty (allowing they crossed back through the barrier), I can assume they sussed it out.

Agreed. After WNMHGB, I'd say Spock and the Enterprise Science Division wrote research papers that led to fleet-wide shield upgrades. In "By Any Other Name," the new shields were up and running.

Thus Mitchell and Dehner, and the other nine who died, had something in common with the pioneers of radium and medical X-rays, many of whom died because the need for radiation shielding was discovered too late for them, and because of them.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Yeah, it's not a fence.

Keep Out. Beware of Space Dogs.

 

[Tallguy]

Beware of Space Dogs.

Poor Gary.

 

[Poltargyst]

Maybe the barrier isn't just a strip but actually encapsulates the whole galaxy top, bottom, and around the edge. Like a sandwich wrapped in cellophane. And by the way, what's the explanation for the existence of the barrier anyway?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I guess the thinking was that there's often a barrier around astronomical objects and systems, like the Earth's ozone layer or the solar system's heliosphere, so they imagined there was one around the galaxy too. It wasn't put there by godlike aliens or anything like that, it's just a naturally occurring phenomenon.

 

[Tosk]

I have long imagined that the barrier was actually more than just a strip of energy, but that it was visible only when viewed at a particular angle.

That's how I tend to ustify it too.

 

[Maurice]

I guess the thinking was that there's often a barrier around astronomical objects and systems, like the Earth's ozone layer or the solar system's heliosphere, so they imagined there was one around the galaxy too. It wasn't put there by godlike aliens or anything like that, it's just a naturally occurring phenomenon.

My guess is the inspiration was the Van Allen belts, detected in 1958 by instruments aboard the Explorer 1 satellite.