Glossary of Terms

This is a glossary of terms used in Space Era.  Click on the letter to take you to that section.  If there's anything you'd like added, let me know, as this will be an ongoing work.

Antimatter
Exotic matter, negatively charged, used to power starship reactors.

Attack Ship
A light warship, generally under 100,000 metric tonnes, and usually hyperdrive capable.

Battlecruiser
A heavy warship usually massing between 3 and 5 million metric tonnes.  Often focuses on armaments and maneuverability over defences.

Battleship
A heavy warship massing between 5 and 8 million metric tonnes.  Often equipped with fleet command and control facilities.

Billion
One thousand million, i.e. 1,000,000,000.

Black Hole
A region of space so dense that no matter, radiation, or light can escape.  Created by the collapse of a giant star.  Many galaxies include a super massive black hole at their core.  Hypothetically, a black hole in this universe may suck in matter, that is then deposited via a white hole in another universe.  Thus, if a vessel could overcome the extreme gravity, it would be possible to travel between universes.

Carrier
A warship tasked with carrying fighter craft, and generally focusing on carrying capacity over armaments and defences.

CE / Common Era
Year suffix.  A secular alternative used in place of AD.  Grew in popularity in the 21st century, and eventually adopted for offical use.

Corvette
A light warship generally massing 100,000 - 250,000 metric tonnes.

Cruiser
A generic term for medium warships, including Light, Medium, and Heavy variants, as well as several specialty types.  Often the workhorse of a fleet.

Destroyer
A light warship that focuses on armaments over defences, and often tasked with escort duties. Often also includes more torpedo launchers than a cruiser.

Deuterium
A material used as fuel for sublight engines.

Dreadnought
A heavy capital warship massing 8 - 12 million metric tonnes. Often equipped with fleet command and control facilities, and serving as the largest warships serving secondary powers.

Fighter
A light attack craft generally under 50,000 metric tonnes, and with a minimal crew. Usually sublight capability only, and often capable of atmospheric entry. Rely on carrier vessels to travel between star systems.

Frigate
A light warship generally focusing on shields and defences over armaments.

Galaxy
A gravitationally bound system of stars, nebulae, dark matter, and other spatial phenomena, orbiting a central point, often a super massive black hole. Galaxies varying in size from a few billion stars, to over 100 trillion. In Space Era, galaxies generally have only 0.1% of their real star numbers, to avoid clutter or excessively large maps. These are termed strategic star systems.

Hyperdrive
The technology that allows a starship to travel faster than the speed of light.

Hypermatter
An exotic material used to allow hyperdrive technology to operate.

Light-Year
The distance traveled by light in one year. In Earth terms, a light-year is just shy of 9.5 trillion kilometres. The nearest star to Sol (Earth's parent star) is 4.2 light-years away. For reference, Earth is approximately 8 light-minutes (149.6 million kilometres) from her star (Sol).

Metric Tonne
A measurement of mass, used in starship specifications. One metric tonne is equal to 1,000 kilograms.

Monitor
A major capital warship, massing more than 20 million metric tonnes. Only in service with a handful of powers.

Multiverse
A collection of possibly an infinite number of universes.

Nebula
A collection of gas and dust, often the birthplace of new stars.

Omniverse
The entirety of existence, including every universe, and multiverse.

Planet
An astronomical body orbiting a star or stellar remnant, or, far rarer, found roaming free in interstellar space.  These range from small rocks of a few thousand kilometres across, to super massive gas giants up to 50 million kilometres in diameter.  The [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] lists 19 classes of planets.

Quadrant
All galaxies are divided into four equal-sized quadrants, named Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta quadrants.  The exact size of a quadrant depends on the size of the galaxy in question.  The Milky Way has quadrants 50,000 light-years on each side, while the Smaller Magellanic Cloud has quadrants 3,500 light-years on a side.

Quadrillion
One thousand trillion, i.e. 1 followed by 15 zero's.

Quintillion
One thousand quadrillion, i.e. 1 followed by 18 zero's.

Sapient Species
A species that has developed intelligence and technology. All star-faring species are always sapient.

Sector
An area of space 20 light-years on each side. A sector can be home to anywhere from 8 to 30 star systems. Each sector is comprised of 100 subsectors (10 x 10).

Space Station
An artificial structure built in space, often in orbit of a planet. Generally only capable of docking starships via external docking ports, and massing less than 20 million metric tonnes.

Star
A large luminous stellar object varying in size from small dwarf stars, to hypergiants several thousand times the diameter of Sol. Many stars are host to one of more planets.

Starbase
A large artificial structure built in space, often in orbit of a planet. A starbase will generally dock starships internally, ranging from 5 to several hundred, and allowing for improved maintenance and repair capabilities. Starbases are often powerful enough to require a large fleet to neutralize them.

Sublight
Travel at slower than light velocities.

Subsector
An area of space 2 light-years on each side, with a 7% chance of hosting a single star system. Each sector is comprised of 100 subsectors (10 x 10).

Superdreadnought
A large capital warship massing 12 to 20 million metric tonnes, generally the largest warships in service with the major powers.

Timeline
A representation marking important events that have taken place within the universe, from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, to the present day.

Trillion
One thousand billion, or one million million, i.e. 1,000,000,000,000 (1 followed by 12 zero's).

Universe
A conglomeration of matter and space operating within the same space-time continuum, and under the same laws of physics. Our universe comprises up to a trillion or more galaxies, and 250 billion trillion stars, and was formed 13.8 billion years ago. Other universes may differ in size and age.

White Hole
A point in space that expels matter, radiation, and light. Hypothetically the exit aperture connected to a black hole in another universe.

Wormhole
A shortcut connecting two distant regions of space-time within a universe. The two points at either end could be anywhere from a few light-years distant, to the opposite side of the universe.