This is a thread to discuss speculation on the function of the eighth chevron: it is well established that the eighth chevron is used to connect to Stargates in other galaxies, but the specifics are quite vague.
For example, is the eighth chevron a "galaxy code" that transcribes a local address to another galaxy? Is each eight-chevron address a whole galaxy or a galaxy-sized region? Nothing conclusive has been said on the issue.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the issue:
This is interesting because the Local Supercluster is just about 110 million light-years in diameter.
In another thread related to this issue (here), the objection was raised that, in "The Pegasus Project," they used the eighth chevron to connect to a Stargate near the "Supergate," rather than to Earth. They raise a valid point that it might be possible to dial specific 'Gates in a galaxy.
However, a counterpoint is present in the numbers that I presented above. If we take each address as a cube, then the Milky Way would have to contain several eight-chevron addresses: a cube with 78.5 trillion cubic light-years (the volume used in the above calculations) would have a length/width/height of about 43,000 light-years, which is a little less than half the diameter of the Milky Way. This means that the Milky Way would have at least four eight-chevron addresses within it, even if each eight-chevron address stood for a single "galaxy."
Thus, even if we take eight-chevron addresses to be roughly galaxy-sized, it is still quite possible to dial different regions in a large galaxy like the Milky Way.
Another objection raised to the eight-chevron address="galaxy" idea is the Priors, namely that they were able to reach specific planets. However, such an objection is so heavily steeped in assumption and self-contradiction as to be absurd.
Firstly, it assumes that Ori Stargates use anything even remotely similar to chevrons. This assumption is rather unfounded: we have never even seen an Ori Stargate, so we have no way of knowing whether it uses chevrons or not. The Supergate certainly did not use chevrons.
Second, it assumes that if an Ori Stargate uses chevrons, that those chevrons must work the same way as the chevrons used by the Ancients' Stargates. This assumption is a bit more reasonable, but still not guaranteed.
Third, and probably most importantly, it is self-contradictory. If you make the assumption that the chevrons on an Ori Stargate work the same way as on an Ancient Stargate, then there is absolutely no way that a "galaxy code" eighth chevron could be used to reach the Milky Way. The Local Group is the ~40 galaxies closest to the Milky Way. A BC-304 powered a ZPM (like the Odyssey) could reach any of those galaxies in a matter of days, as the Local Group is only about 10 million light-years across and the Milky Way is fairly close to the center of it.
Thus, if the Ori Galaxy were in the Local Group, there would have been no need for a Supergate: it would have taken them only a few days to get here. If the Ori Galaxy were in a nearby group or cluster, the same argument holds: it would have taken them only a few weeks at most to reach the Milky Way. However, unless Ori Stargates have hundreds of symbols, the Ori Galaxy would have to be in one of the nearby groups of galaxies in order for their eighth chevron to be a "galaxy code."
I am not, of course, saying that any of this disproves, per se, the idea that the eighth chevron is not a "galaxy code." Indeed, most of what I just wrote was a refutation of arguments "proving" that the eighth chevron is a "galaxy code," rather than an actual argument that it should be something else.
For example, is the eighth chevron a "galaxy code" that transcribes a local address to another galaxy? Is each eight-chevron address a whole galaxy or a galaxy-sized region? Nothing conclusive has been said on the issue.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the issue:
Originally posted by Quadhelix
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In another thread related to this issue (here), the objection was raised that, in "The Pegasus Project," they used the eighth chevron to connect to a Stargate near the "Supergate," rather than to Earth. They raise a valid point that it might be possible to dial specific 'Gates in a galaxy.
However, a counterpoint is present in the numbers that I presented above. If we take each address as a cube, then the Milky Way would have to contain several eight-chevron addresses: a cube with 78.5 trillion cubic light-years (the volume used in the above calculations) would have a length/width/height of about 43,000 light-years, which is a little less than half the diameter of the Milky Way. This means that the Milky Way would have at least four eight-chevron addresses within it, even if each eight-chevron address stood for a single "galaxy."
Thus, even if we take eight-chevron addresses to be roughly galaxy-sized, it is still quite possible to dial different regions in a large galaxy like the Milky Way.
Another objection raised to the eight-chevron address="galaxy" idea is the Priors, namely that they were able to reach specific planets. However, such an objection is so heavily steeped in assumption and self-contradiction as to be absurd.
Firstly, it assumes that Ori Stargates use anything even remotely similar to chevrons. This assumption is rather unfounded: we have never even seen an Ori Stargate, so we have no way of knowing whether it uses chevrons or not. The Supergate certainly did not use chevrons.
Second, it assumes that if an Ori Stargate uses chevrons, that those chevrons must work the same way as the chevrons used by the Ancients' Stargates. This assumption is a bit more reasonable, but still not guaranteed.
Third, and probably most importantly, it is self-contradictory. If you make the assumption that the chevrons on an Ori Stargate work the same way as on an Ancient Stargate, then there is absolutely no way that a "galaxy code" eighth chevron could be used to reach the Milky Way. The Local Group is the ~40 galaxies closest to the Milky Way. A BC-304 powered a ZPM (like the Odyssey) could reach any of those galaxies in a matter of days, as the Local Group is only about 10 million light-years across and the Milky Way is fairly close to the center of it.
Thus, if the Ori Galaxy were in the Local Group, there would have been no need for a Supergate: it would have taken them only a few days to get here. If the Ori Galaxy were in a nearby group or cluster, the same argument holds: it would have taken them only a few weeks at most to reach the Milky Way. However, unless Ori Stargates have hundreds of symbols, the Ori Galaxy would have to be in one of the nearby groups of galaxies in order for their eighth chevron to be a "galaxy code."
I am not, of course, saying that any of this disproves, per se, the idea that the eighth chevron is not a "galaxy code." Indeed, most of what I just wrote was a refutation of arguments "proving" that the eighth chevron is a "galaxy code," rather than an actual argument that it should be something else.
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