Glyph

Glyphs are symbols on Stargates which chevrons lock onto when a Stargate is being dialled. The basis for glyphs are constellations. There are several differences between Milky Way and Pegasus galaxy glyphs. Constellations are the names given to a group of stars linked close together. Oftentimes, they represent some sort of picture. The symbols on the Dial Home Device represent constellations, destinations used to link Stargates together are represented by constellations to form Addresses. (Stargate) (SG1: "Children of the Gods")

Milky Way

File:SG-1.png

Diagram of the second-generation Stargate

A Milky Way Stargate has 39 inscribed symbols on the inner ring. When dialling, this inner ring rotates until the dialled symbol is aligned with the seventh chevron, at which point the ring pauses, the seventh chevron moves down and up, and the appropriate chevron in the sequence engages and glows red.

With 38 symbols, the Stargate network in the Milky Way has

38×37×36×35×34×33 = 1,987,690,320 possible addresses.

8-symbol addresses will yield

38×37×36×35×34×33×32 = 63,606,090,240 possible addresses.

However, not all points in space represented by these addresses have Stargates; in deed, there are sufficiently few valid coordinate sets that randomly dialling the Stargate is largely futile. (SG1: "Children of the Gods")

Because the gate on Earth was found without a DHD, the Stargate team on Earth developed a dialing computer to interface with the gate in order to power it and dial it by the use of computers (essentially an automated version of manual dialling). When using a DHD, however, each chevron is activated immediately upon entry of the symbols, without the inner ring spinning. This allows for a much swifter dialling process. (SG1: "Stargate", "Children of the Gods")

Milky Way glyphs

Position	Glyph	Constellation	Position	Glyph	Constellation	Position	Glyph	Constellation
1		Point of origin (Giza)	14		Microscopium	27		Taurus
2		Crater	15		Capricornus	28		Auriga
3		Virgo	16		Piscis Austrinus	29		Eridanus
4		Boötes	17		Equuleus	30		Orion
5		Centaurus	18		Aquarius	31		Canis Minor
6		Libra	19		Pegasus	32		Monoceros
7		Serpens Caput	20		Sculptor	33		Gemini
8		Norma	21		Pisces	34		Hydra
9		Scorpius	22		Andromeda	35		Lynx
10		Corona Australis	23		Triangulum	36		Cancer
11		Scutum	24		Aries	37		Sextans
12		Sagittarius	25		Perseus	38		Leo Minor
13		Aquila	26		Cetus	39		Leo

Pegasus

Diagram of the third-generation Stargate

As found out by the Atlantis expedition, the Ancients seeded planets throughout the Pegasus galaxy with Stargates too, but used gates of a slightly different, more advanced design, although the differences appear mostly cosmetic. Pegasus Stargates are designed with blue chevron lamps instead of orange, and the address symbols are groups of small blue lamps (rather than embossed figures) that light up sequentially instead of rotating. This also makes a manual dial impossible as manually dialling a Stargate requires the dialing ring to be rotated. When Atlantis moved from Lantea, the gate appeared to have changed glyphs dynamically, based on it's current location, instead of having fixed symbols like the Milky Way galaxy has. This makes it possible for the gate to be used with ease in other galaxies as well.

Unlike the Milky Way gates, Pegasus gates are depicted with 36 symbols. 7 symbols are still required to dial an interplanetary address, cliving to the same constraints as a Milky Way gate. With 36 symbols, the Stargate Network in the Pegasus galaxy has

35×34×33×32×31×30 = 1,168,675,200 possible addresses.

8-symbol addresses will yield

35×34×33×32×31×30×29 = 33,891,580,800 possible addresses.

Pegasus glyphs

Position	Glyph	Constellation	Position	Glyph	Constellation	Position	Glyph	Constellation
1		Arami	13		Lenchan	25		Avoniv
2		Olavii	14		Amiwill	26		Bydo
3		Elenami	15		Salma	27		Zeo
4		Sibbron	16		Once el	28		Poco Re
5		Hacemill	17		Laylox	29		Tahnan
6		Ca po	18		Ecrumig	30		Ramnon
7		Illume	19		Subido (point of origin for Atlantis)	31		Gilltin
8		Zamilloz	20		Roehi	32		Acjesis
9		Earth	21		Alura	33		Abrin
10		Danami	22		Aldeni	34		Hamlinto
11		Sandovi	23		Aaxel	35		Setas
12		Dawnre	24		Recktic	36		Robandus

Destiny

Diagram of the first-generation Stargate

Destiny's Stargate bears 36 symbols like Pegasus Stargates and the whole Gate spins to dial an address. When dialling, the symbols light up to indicate they have been encoded. Destiny also contains a Gate bearing which lights up as each glyph locks; however planetary Gates do not share this trait.

The glyphs are not of constellations as with Milky Way and Pegasus Gates since the gate must be able to dial addresses from a moving point of origin in many different galaxies, but rather are some mathematical or conceptual representation yet to be discovered by the people aboard. The Stargates seeded throughout the galaxies Destiny has visited also use this type of address.

Destiny glyphs

Position	Glyph	Position	Glyph	Position	Glyph	Position	Glyph
1		10		19		28
2		11		20		29
3		12		21		30
4		13		22		31
5		14		23		32
6		15		24		33
7		16		25		34
8		17		26		35
9		18		27		36

Behind the Scenes

The look of the constellations changes even within a few thousand years. This is due to stellar drift. So the constellations must have looked very different from what we see now at about 50 million years ago when the Ancients built the stargates . They couldn't see the constellations as we do now. One of few explanations for this is that the Ancients made the stargates to serve for millions of years to come so they calculated how the constellations would change, but this is a weak explanation for this.

See also

• Stargate
• Chevron
• Point of origin
• Stargate address

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Stargate (device). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.