Talk:Vulcan (planet)

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Contents 1 Name 2 Canon Geology 3 Needs attention (obsolete) 4 Quadrant 5 Planet classification 6 Water on Vulcan 7 Satellite of Gas Giant Planet ? 8 Length of a Day

[edit] Name

Someone posted that the origin of the name was for a Sol planet once thought to exist inside Mercury's orbit. Not only is this not canon, I don't think anyone has remotely suggested this as the origin. It would make more sense to me that the planet was named after the Roman god of the forge, a hot unforgiving environment, particularly given the likelihood Humans will continue this practice in the early days of interstellar relations. Tfleming 20:11, 25 Dec 2005 (UTC)

The use of 'Vulcan' in this context would most likely have originated from the name of the god. However, the person who mentioned 'our' solar Vulcan does not deserve too much criticism - as can be seen from article linked above, the hypothesis was given considerable merit during the 1850s when it was first suggested to explain eccentricities in the orbit of Mercury (now accounted for by an improved understanding of gravitation). The article also points out, quite truthfully, that during the 1960-1970s the notion of Vulcan was enjoying a new revival. It is not unreasonable to assume that Gene Roddenberry could well have been influenced by this in choosing the name for Spock's planet. - Adaru 16:24, 01 Sep 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Canon Geology

I once contacted a Geologist about his take on the Geology of Vulcan. He recently got back to me with his observations. I was wondering is there anyway his professional observations straight from Star Trek Movies and Episodes can be integrated into Memory Alpha? I'm not in the prosses of having him clarfy a few things said, and won't post till then, I just need to know the policy on this.

If I understand this, Mount Seleya would have this added, "Mount Seleya was once a river bed that was later eroded by a glacier. Mount Seleya also shows signs of Volcanic Activity, The Temple itself is on the eroded neck of the Voclano, and the Alter is on a Vent." Something to that effect.

It does meet Canon requirements, it was all on screen. --TOSrules 22:30, Dec 26, 2004 (CET)

Well, no, Mount Seleya could have been formed by Preserver terraforming or Q. We really don't know canonically.

If you wanted to make a background information section, or a note outside of the POV, that might be acceptable as long as your facts were clear and stated so as to not mislead the reader, as the above text might if you included it. Also, spelling corrections: "Volcano," not "Voclano;" "Altar" is correct, the homonym "Alter" is not. Furthermore, American English does not capitalize any nouns except proper names. -- Captain Mike K. Bartel 22:44, 26 Dec 2004 (CET)

I don't see how the Preservers would have anything to do with a Sargon Colony. Nor do I see why the Q would have any interest in changing the landscape. Thanks for the corrections BTW. Good guidelines on how to add such observations. --TOSrules 22:52, Dec 26, 2004 (CET)

Why were the TAS pic(s) removed from the page? The mix of live and animated images were creating a very rounded feel. Tyrant 00:34, 23 Jan 2005 (CET)Tyrant

[edit] Needs attention (obsolete)

Vulcan (planet). Article needs to be updated and expanded with information form Enterprise's Season 4. --BlueMars 19:50, Nov 30, 2004 (CET)

[edit] Quadrant

This page lists Vulcan is being in the Beta Quadrant. Is this canon. I always assumed it was in the alpha quadrant, epsecially since both "In the Pale Moonlight" and I believe Home mention Vulcan being extremely close to Earth (I think they said 7 lightyears in Home). Jaz 22:23, 27 Sep 2005 (UTC)

ENT gives a distance of 16 ly, which correspons exactly with 40 Eridani A. You can check whether that star lies in the Beta Quadrant. -- Harry 22:27, 27 Sep 2005 (UTC)

Despite common the common belief, galactic quadrants are not actual scientific terms. They exist only in trek and other SF. It seems unlikely though that something only 16 ly away would be in another quadrant, even though Earth is the near the border. Is there anyone with a definite answer? Jaz 03:57, 28 Sep 2005 (UTC)

The border, whether fictional or real, has to be somewhere - and if this border happens to be located between Earth and Vulcan (planet), then those planets are in different quadrants even if they are only some lightyears apart.

However, we can't really know all this from canon sources. We don't know the exact location of Vulcan, and we don't know the exact location of the AQ/BQ-border. That's why I already tried to start a discussion about using the term Alpha or Beta Quadrant throughout. That discussion is probably located in one of the Ten Forward arhives at the moment. -- Cid Highwind 09:14, 28 Sep 2005 (UTC)

According to the Stellar cartography page, the border between the Alpha and Beta Quadrants is a line going from the galactic core and passing thru the Sol system. So, Earth isn't even in the Alpha quadrant all year. Alpha Centauri could easily be in the Beta Quadrant for all we know. I'm not sure of the canonical source for this info though, other than probably a tech manual somewhere.--Tim Thomason 09:41, 28 Sep 2005 (UTC)

UPDATE: According to the star chart from "Conspiracy" Vulcan is to the right of Sol, so that would put it in the Alpha Quadrant I believe.--Tim Thomason 16:03, 1 Oct 2005 (UTC)

Is that your right or mine? :P --Schrei 16:43, 1 Oct 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, that chart doesn't even clarify whether you are looking at it from galactic north or galactic south -- and where on it does it mention alpha or beta? i'm not sure why you think there's so much insight in it -- i've told you before, the information just isn't there. -- Captain Mike K. Bartel^talk 14:24, 17 Jan 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Planet classification

Was Vulcan ever stated to be Class M? It seems more in line with Class H to me.. Nimbus III seems a lot more Class M than Vulcan ever has.. Skold 09:37, 17 Jan 2006 (UTC)

Amanda and Perrin lived a great deal of their lives there, so it's safe to say Vulcan can support human life. Class H worlds can't. --Aurelius Kirk 09:57, 17 Jan 2006 (UTC)

I think there's some leeway in how hospitable a Class H planet is.. Two of the example ones were shown to just be deserts (like Vulcan) with people wandering around without much trouble. Two other ones had domes and were a lot worse off. So either Vulcan is one of the friendlier Class H planets, or the examples for Class H should be checked.. Skold 11:53, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I think most of the "examples" were not canonically referred to as being "class H". - which means we shouldn't add more assumptions to that by adding Vulcan to that list. If you want to check the classification pages, more power to you! This is something which is long overdue, I think. :) -- Cid Highwind 12:17, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

You're going to make me dig out a bunch of dvds, you know this.. :( Skold 03:42, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Water on Vulcan

How big are the "scattered small seas" on Vulcan and how frequent are they on the planet ? Are there also rivers and pocket forests on the surface of Vulcan ? How would Vulcan compare in terms of availability of surface water to other fictional "dry" planets capable of supporting life like Wayne Barlowe's Darwin IV from the Discovery Channel special "Alien Planet" ?

None of those questions were ever answered on screen, at least not in canon Trek. --Jörg 18:08, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Satellite of Gas Giant Planet ?

Seen that on ST:The Motion Picture. The planet looked like a rendering of Jupiter, with some other satellites in orbit, and Vulcan was portrayed AS one of those satellites. Play the tape s...l...o...w...l...y to see that. You'll need the original tape. 205.240.144.226 20:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Length of a Day

What is the length of a Vulcan day?

I don't think that is answered in canon. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 03:14, 30 August 2008 (UTC)