How do you read a stardate?

Answer 1

You first need to know that Stardates in Star Trek start at the basedate. The basedate is January 1, 2323 (Stardate 0).

Stardate units standardize time measurement between various cultures, worlds and races. It has little relationship to Earth's time as we know it; one hour aboard a starship at different impulse speeds may equal many Earth hours. Stardates are calculated through a complicated equation that takes into account relativistic effects, universal expansion and the effects of gravity on time and space. Every so often the stardate system has to be updated to take into account the expansion of space or other natural effects. Starfleet vessels did this by contacting a nearby Starfleet time beacon and adjusting their internal chronometer.

Because the formula is so complex to convert Gregorian Calendar Dates into Stardates and Vice Versa there are many online utilities that can do this for you. Just visit the Link in the Related Links section below.

Answer 2

The star date is read year then day so it would be like this;

2304-50

year 2304 and the 50th day that year. They don't typically use months like we do as in February 19th which is the 50th day of the year.

Hope that helped.

Answer 3

It depends on which system you use:

In the Original Series, the stardate is a fictional system of time measurement developed to disguise the precise era of Star Trek.

In the Next Generation, the stardate is a five-digit number followed by a decimal point and one more digit. Example: "41254.7." The first two digits of the stardate are always "41." The 4 stands for 24th century, the 1 indicates first season. The additional three leading digits will progress unevenly during the course of the season from 000 to 999. The digit following the decimal point is generally regarded as a day counter.

In 2009, according to Roberto Orci, stardates were revised again for the movie, so that the first four digits correspond to the year, while the remainder was intended to stand for the day of the year. So Star Trek Into Darkness begins on stardate 2259.55, or February 24, 2259.