# What, exactly, are star dates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 4, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412 "2012-08-04T11:05:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/1 "2012-08-04T11:05:24Z")
> **[In “Star Trek,” what exactly are “star dates”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341993/in-star-trek-what-exactly-are-star-dates)** And here I thought it was an article about making it with Paula Abdul after taping the shows… I just couldn’t help noticing that SOMEONE actually took the time to record ALL the dates specified in ALL the episodes of multiple series in order to derive some kind of logic from them. (Logic? “Logic is a field of pretty flowers; that smell BAD.”) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/2 "2012-08-08T13:52:00Z")
Yes, I remember Bjo Trimble’s _Star Trek Concordance_, published in the early 1970s, had all of the stardates (always spelled as one word, BTW - Cecil got that wrong) from all of the shows. Other concordances and encyclopedias since then invariably note the stardates of the various ST shows. For more info: > **[Stardate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 …". While the original method was inspired by the Modified Julian date system currently used by astronomers, writers and producers have selected numbers using different methods over the years, some more a The orig... > **[Stardate](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Stardate)** > > A stardate was a date in a variety of systems employed by the United Federation of Planets and other societies. It was usually expressed as a number of digits with a decimal separator, e.g. 5928.5 or 2263.02. Stardate systems were used in certain... ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/3 "2012-08-09T16:16:48Z")
Bjo Trimble’s Star Trek Concordance… Again… WHY would somebody even care enough to assemble such a compendium? And how much could it POSSIBLY matter whether it’s one word or two? Only to a trekkie. “Get a life.” ~ William Shatner ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/4 "2012-08-09T17:31:28Z")
[Psst. Don’t tell him about baseball and football stats.] ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/5 "2012-08-09T17:53:07Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > Bjo Trimble’s Star Trek Concordance… > > Again… WHY would somebody even care enough to assemble such a compendium? And how much could it POSSIBLY matter whether it’s one word or two? Only to a trekkie. > > “Get a life.” ~ William Shatner This may come to a surpise to you, M arc, but some people like to have fun in ways that you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/6 "2012-08-09T18:00:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This may come to a surpise to you, M arc, but some people like to have fun in ways that you don’t. Good Lord, that explains why my cousin collects stamps! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-star-dates/630412/7 "2012-08-11T01:00:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This may come to a surpise to you, M arc, but some people like to have fun in ways that you don’t. Heh. If I started listing goofy hobbies, I don’t think I’d ever be able to stop. Trekkers differ from other fans and hobbyists only in the focus of their obsession.