User:Morwen/sector

In the TV show Star Trek, a sector is an identified region of space, used as a cartographic reference.

Sectors are usually numbered, and appear in the original series as such. Various material claim that a sector is a 20x20x20 lightyear cube, and that a typical sector usually contains several star systems.

Named sectors.

The Star Trek Star Charts presents a system for subdividing the Milky Way Galaxy into sectors. Firstly, it models the Milky Way Galaxy as a cylinder, 50,000 light-years in radius, and 3,600 light-years in breadth. This cylinder is divided into 36 segments, called "Sub-Quadrants", which are labelled 0 through Z. The galaxy is also divided into ten 5,000 light-year wide "Sector Zones", numbered from 0 at the centre of the Galaxy to 9 at the rim. A combination of a Sub-Quadrant and a Sector Zone makes a "Sector Grid". Each Sector Grid is 5,000 ly long and 3,200 ly high, but its width depends on how close the Sector Grid is to the center of the galaxy.

Each Sector Grid is then divided into 100 Sector Quads - 4 vertical layers containing 25 sector quads arranged in a 5x5 group. (The Star Charts explains the references to Quadrants in TOS and early TNG by claiming that these Sector Quads are sometimes (but "mistakenly") called quadrants.

It then claims each Sector Quad is then divided into a varying number of Sector Blocks. Three digits are reserved : there are ten Sector Blocks vertically, ten radially, and a varying number against the radial direction, depending upon how far out the Sector Block is. (There are 9 at UFP distance, 10 further out, and SUPPOSEDLY MORE even further out, even though this would spill out to 4 digits, or maybe letters)

Each Sector Block is then divided into 100 actual damn sectors : there being 4 (height) x 5 (radially) x 5 (cross-radially).

This above description needs turning into geometry.

Can we find some way of estimating how many sectors in the galaxy we get here? Compare this to the TNGWTM system, which has 20x20x20 sectors based on degrees from "top" * 100 + 1000, but can't possibly cope with enough sectors to fill the galaxy.