Editing Stardate (section)

{{Short description|System of time measurement in Star Trek}}
{{For|the radio program|StarDate}}
A '''stardate''' is a fictional system of time measurement developed for the television and film series ''[[Star Trek]]''. In the series, use of this date system is commonly heard at the beginning of a [[voice-over]] log entry, such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7. Our destination is planet Deneb IV&nbsp;…". While the original method was inspired by the [[Julian day| Modified Julian date]]<ref>{{cite book |title= Star Trek 30 Years Special Collector's Edition |editor= Lee Anne Nicholson |publisher= Paramount Pictures |year=1996}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/3fsd6pqMmFY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140630071513/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fsd6pqMmFY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media |people= Robert H. Justman, Herbert F. Solow (writers), Kellam de Forest (source) | year= 1998 |title= Inside Star Trek: The Real Story |medium= Videotape |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fsd6pqMmFY&t=24m4s |access-date = February 8, 2014 |minutes=24}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek |author=Joel Engel |year=1994 |publisher=Hyperion Books}}</ref> system currently used by astronomers, the writers and producers have selected numbers using different methods over the years, some more arbitrary than others. This makes it impossible to convert all stardates into equivalent calendar dates, especially since stardates were originally intended to avoid specifying exactly when ''Star Trek'' takes place.<ref>{{cite web |last=Onion |first=Rebecca |title= Pages from the Official Star Trek Writers' Guide, 1967 |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/05/14/star_trek_pages_from_the_writers_guide_for_the_original_series.html |work= [[Slate magazine]] |date=14 May 2013 |publisher= [[The Slate Group]] |access-date= 15 May 2013}}
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