S1E14 Why is is called Singularity?

[Kehaan]

Hello all.

I have a projekt in school, which i hope you can help me with. I am going to analyse Stargate and one of the episodes, and i have thought about looking at the Season 1 episode 14 called Singularity.

But i have 2 questians, which i hope you can help me with.

1: Why is the episode called Singularity? Is it becouse Sam dont know the reason to why the girl get attract to her? Or something else?

2: Where is the black hole? I know we cant see it, but the reason for them to look in the telescope was to see the "dust" it would "suck" in

Sorry for my english, from denmark

Thanks.

From Kehaan.

[jelgate]

1. The term singularity is just vague term for the different things are formed in space. In Teal'c and Jack's case thier singularity was a an eclipse.

2. I'm not sure I follow. In this episode they weren't looking a black hole. Your right black hole has no true visible opening. As to why look at a black hole the same reason we look at everything else, to learn about it and how it works. +

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

They were looking for a black hole...

JACKSON: So, what exactly are we going to see after this eclipse begins? I mean it is black. And it is a hole.

O'NEILL: Well, it might be a black hole.

JACKSON: Okay, let me put that a different way.

CARTER: No Daniel, your right, you can't actually see it, not the singularity it's self it's so massive not even light can escape it. But during the totality phase of the eclipse, we should be able to see matter spiraling towards it.

O'NEILL: Actually it's called the Accretion Disc.

Sam and Teal'c stop to look at Jack. Danny goes on, not hearing what Jack said.

JACKSON: Well I guess it's easy to understand why the local population would be afraid of something like th...(Realizing what Jack said) what did you just say?!?

Danny turns to Jack.

O'NEILL: It's just an astronomical term.

CARTER: You didn't think the Colonel has a telescope on his roof just to look at his neighbors, did you?

But they found a Ha'tak instead

[Kehaan]

Hey.

Yea what i know they was looking after a black hole. Thats also why O'neil was talking with Teal'c about it.

What i can understand the term Singularity is just another word for a black hole.

And that they was going to see the black hole at the elipse. Would hurt their eyes he they saw trough the telescope at day. But instead of seeing the blac hole the enemy was there. Thats how i understand it

[Kehaan]

EDIT: It would hurt there eyes, if they saw through the telescope at sunlight. But instead of seeing the black hole the enemy came.

[Supreme Commander Sil]

Because the singularity's about to explode !!!

[Dodgified]

and as someone said they were looking at a black hole's accretion disc. (i don't get what all the fuss is about? what are they going to do get some interesting photos that they can never show anyone?)

Because the singularity's about to explode !!!

don't fear, weapons are at maximum.

[sunrek]

OR it was about how Cassandra was the singular survivor of her people, and therefore a "Singularity." It was a clever title to cover both, as shows often do.

[Kehaan]

Hey.

What do you mean by that Casandra is a "Singularity"?

Thanks.

From Kehaan

[sunrek]

From www.dictionary.com;

Singularity: 1. the state, fact, or quality of being singular

Singular:
1. extraordinary; remarkable; exceptional: a singular success.
2. unusual or strange; odd; different: singular behavior.
3. being the only one of its kind; distinctive; unique: a singular example.
4. separate; individual.

Cassie was the only survivor left on the planet. She is alone. She is a singularity.


This was the first conclusion I came to when considering the episode title. The fact that the B plot involved a black hole (or Quantum Singularity) means the title can go both ways, however. TV show titles are often chosen because they can cover all the threads and plots contained in the story. Since this episode is mostly about Cassandra and coincidentally about an observatory studying a black hole, Cassie's situation and the observatory's work are both described in the episodes' title "Singularity."

Other shows are named like that too. For SG1 examples, "The Enemy Within": It refers to the Goa'uld in Kawalski, but also our suspicion of Teal'c presence in the SGC. "A Matter of Time" refers to the fact that it not only is an episode literally about time, but if the gate didn't shut down then it would have been only a matter of time before the whole planet got sucked through. "Learning Curve" is about both the process the Orbanians go through to learn, as well as Jack learning to accept other cultures. Carter also learns about Naquada reactors, and the ex-Urrone learn to play.

And in "Singularity," the title refers to Cassandra's situation and the black hole they study.

[General Jumper One]

Because TPTB decided that it would be called that.

[Kehaan]

Hey

Thanks Sunrek Just what i needed.

From Kehaan.

[sunrek]

To answer your second question, I read through the relevant parts of the transcript and I think I know the answer. Keep in mind I haven't watched the episode in forever and can't say exactly what was depicted on screen, but this is what I got from the transcript:

The locals knew a "Darkness" was going to happen. The SG team that first explored the planet found out about this and somehow discovered that there was going to be a solar eclipse. An observatory was built on the planet to watch this eclipse and at some point they discovered there was a black hole involved. I think somehow the black hole was orbiting the star or vice versa, but in any event, the eclipse was going to involve the star, the black hole, and the planet lining up in that order. When this happened, the black hole would be blocking the star's light (in fact it would be pulling the light into itself not simply blocking it) causing the "Darkness" the locals feared.

This arrangement of star, black hole, and planet would present a unique opportunity for the SGC because with the star back-lighting the black hole, it would illuminate the dust surrounding the black hole; the accretion disc. Does that make sense? Because it was being directly lit, they were being given a unique chance to get a picture of the visible part of a black hole that they hadn't had a chance to see before. Remember this was long before we had ships that could fly by black holes and take pictures.

If I may ask, what is your assignment?