Coordinates

Coordinates are the numbers and letters that make up a code that can be deciphered by applying an understanding of the coordinate system that generated the coordinates. Individual coordinates can represent directions, such as angles in degrees; distances; positions, including time; or even combinations of such. Commonly used and widely understood coordinates include compass directions, such as north, east, south, and west; longitude and latitude coordinates that measure position in degrees, minutes, and seconds; and transporter coordinates that often use communications and sensor locks to accurately define points of origin or destination. Newly discovered circumstances and unexpected developments often necessitate the use of a wide variety of coordinate systems, or even the invention of entirely new systems.

Spatial coordinate systems uniquely define the relative directions, distances, and positions of the physical things and observable occurrences within space, compared to each other, such as the locations of stars, planets, or asteroids, or even the course, heading, and destination of a starship. (See also Helm and Navigation.)

Grayson Coordinate System

The Grayson coordinate system is a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system on the scale of all of known space within the Milky Way Galaxy. Its best application is the definition of physical things and observable occurrences within the Milky Way for which sufficient data exists that we can uniquely define their relative directions, distances, and positions, compared to each other.

Note this Stardate 21312.16 excerpt from our Cartography archives:

The Federation primarily used a coordinate system based on its own sector arrangement. Sector 001 was the Sol system, and was at the center of this system’s coordinates. It primarily relied on relatively nearby sectors that were 20 cubic light years, and decimals were used within each sector to measure more precise locations.

The Grayson coordinate system had been developed when probes (compare probe classes) and exploration had expanded into the Gamma Quadrant via the wormhole at Bajor, and in other directions via long-range missions. The vast distances and coordination with other Milky Way powers required a more neutral coordinate system, not based around Sol, and one that could handle the vast distances. The coordinates had four components. The first was a single letter representing the quadrant, A for Alpha, B for Beta, G for Gamma, and D for Delta; with border locations being notated with the two quadrants it straddled, the lower lettered quadrant first. The second component was the x-axis (“north”-“south”) coordinate measured in units from the center of the Galaxy. A unit was one light year. The third component was the y-axis (“east”-“west”), also measured in units from the center of the Galaxy. The final component was the z-axis relative to the galactic plane. It was the only component that could have a negative number, and the +/- notation was always used. Each component could have a decimal value to indicate portions of a light year. All components were in base 10.

The Sol system was on the border of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, at 25,900 light years from Sagittarius A, the galactic center, and on the Sagittarius A-Sol (Earth) galactic plane. This made its coordinates AB 25,900 0 +0.

Cartography

Star Fleet Cartography’s star charts depict the relative positions in space of explored astronomical objects, and a number of installations, within the Milky Way Galaxy, and currently uses a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system similar to that of the Grayson coordinate system. As with the Grayson coordinate system, its best application is the definition of physical things and observable occurrences within the Milky Way for which sufficient data exists that we can uniquely define their relative directions, distances, and positions, compared to each other. (Compare the catalogue description under the “Star Chart Guide” heading on the Star Charts page.)