Known to their Alteran creators as ‘Astria Porta’, and to the Goa’uld Empire as ‘Chappa’ai’.
Stargates, are hyper-advanced, superconducting rings – capable of harnessing any source
of energy and applying it to create and maintain stable wormholes for the purpose of interplanetary
travel.
Designed by the Alteran Scientist Amelius, dozens of millions of years before the rise
of the Tau’ri, a standard Stargate is 6.7 meters in diameter, and features nine prominent
chevrons – essential to the gate dialling procedure.
Original first-generation Stargates are only partially comprised of Naquadah, and require
a time-consuming dial sequence to activate.
The later second-generation gate is comprised entirely of Naquadah, making the device incredibly
resilient, but resulting in a colossal blast should the device ever be successfully destroyed.
The final third-generation of Stargates was developed by the remaining ancients who became
known as Lanteans, and featured a rapid dialling sequence that could be completed in a short
few seconds.
The first seven of a Stargate’s chevrons and glyphs are used to isolate the location
of another gate and establish a wormhole connection.
Chevrons one-through-six are used to designate points in space and form three-dimensional
coordinates for the destination, while the seventh chevron is coded to the Stargate’s
current position, to provide a point of origin for the wormhole.
The Eighth and near-mythical Ninth Chevrons of the Stargate were a mystery to the Tau’ri
and the rest of the galaxy for many years, ultimately it was discovered that with sufficient
power, an 8-Chevron address could be used to jump to another galaxy, connecting to an
entirely different galactic network of Stargates.
The mystery of the Ninth Chevron was finally solved by the Tau’ri Icarus Project, over
a decade after Stargate Command was founded, revealing that the sole nine-chevron address
in existence could be used to dial the original Stargate prototype aboard the Ancient Starship
Destiny, wherever in the universe it might be, using vast amounts of power to establish
a barely-stable wormhole over literally any distance.
Objects and individuals are only able to travel through a stargate in the direction it was
established, attempting to enter an incoming wormhole, or making contact with the initial
wave of energy projected by an activating gate, will result in instant disintegration.
An exception to this can be found in the form of radio waves, which can be sent in both
directions through an active wormhole.
Almost all Stargates are operated by a fixed console located near to the gate itself, this
is known by the Tau’ri as a ‘Dial Home Device’.
DHD’s use a cluster of control crystals to wirelessly communicate with the stargate
and transmit the necessary glyphs for each dialling sequence.
The Earth Gate at Stargate Command uses a custom-built dialling computer in absence
of the original DHD, and while this does result in lower memory and computational speeds,
it has also allowed the device to resist computer viruses tailored for DHDs.
An object or individual exiting a Stargate requires at least a small amount of space
in order to materialize properly, and this has led numerous powers to develop security
systems which take advantage of this.
Certain Lantean installations such as Atlantis featured powerful forcefields projected over
the event horizon of the wormhole, and this technique was later adopted in a more primitive
form by the Goa’uld empire.
The Tau’ri took a simple, mechanical approach to this system, installing a retractable titanium
barrier known as an ‘Iris’ that was later reinforced with Naquadah-Trinium alloy for
increased resilience.
So long as matter or energy continues to flow through it, a Stargate can remain open under
its own power for up to 38 minutes, after this time has elapsed, colossal supplies of
external power are needed to maintain the wormhole.
In the case of orbital spacegates and Ori Supergates, Black Holes are often used to
provide a ceaseless power supply and maintain a wormhole permanently.
The effect of the Stargate on galactic history cannot be overstated, the milky way network
alone has guided the development of countless spacefaring nations over millions of years,
and allowed for simple travel between dozens of worlds without the use of spacecraft.
Even long after the extinction of its alteran creators, the gate network continues to serve
a vital role in most galactic civilisation, facilitating the hopeful expansion of some
races, and the violent oppression of others.