Talk:Prime planets

What does the planet designation "Prime" mean?
What does the Planet Designation Prime Mean? -- Ensign Hines 08:14, 10 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It might mean it's the main planet used in a system, it could be that it was the first planet discovered in that system, or it could just be used because the writers thought it sounded cool. It doesn't have any special meaning in the Star Trek universe that I'm aware of. --Maestro4k 13:46, 13 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I find it kind of interesting, how "Prime" planets suddenly appeared in Trek. There were no "XXX Prime"s in TOS or TAS, and only two in TNG, towards the very end (Yadalla Prime in and Ronara Prime in ). The first planet called "XXX Prime" was Erabus Prime in, I think. After that, really beginning with DS9 Season 2, those planets appeared all over DS9, VOY, ENT and the movies.


 * Courtesy of bp, here's a list of all Prime planets:


 * Cardassia Prime, Tellar Prime, Trillius Prime, Tandar Prime, Azati Prime (planet), Farius Prime, Amleth Prime, Atbar Prime, Adarak Prime, Veloz Prime, Quatal Prime, Ronara Prime, Kurill Prime, Barisa Prime, Felton Prime, Kyana Prime, Enara Prime, Caldik Prime, Ivor Prime, Yadera Prime, Erabus Prime, Casperia Prime, Inferna Prime, Ninipia Prime, Tau Ceti Prime, Telsius Prime, Selnia Prime, Adigeon Prime, Loracus Prime, Yadalla Prime, Volchok Prime, Rakella Prime, Inavar Prime, Oshionion Prime, Terosa Prime, Gedi Prime, Krios Prime, Malon Prime, Decos Prime, Dalvos Prime, Teerza Prime, Pernaia Prime, Fina Prime, Finnea Prime, Sefalla Prime, Salina Prime, Vanden Prime, Neubilia Prime, Kelvas Prime, Galorda Prime, T'Lani Prime, Sakura Prime, Tessik Prime, Ajilon Prime, Burala Prime, Matalas Prime, Arakis Prime, Eblar Prime, Telfas Prime, Lamenda Prime, Golos Prime, Bozel Prime, Lessek Prime


 * Wouldn't it be interesting to include that somewhere here? A listing of all the I, II, III, IV, V, VIs etc? --Jörg 14:16, 13 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I rather think Prime refers to the origin of a civilization rather than the first planet of the system, which is generally uninhabited. - From Cardassia with pain 11:28, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * That would be my assumption too, as the inner and outer planets of a solar system are generally uninhabitable, Earth for example would be Sol Prime.--Cyno01 20:04, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * There is a naming convention for planets within the ST universe: The name of a planet derives from the primary star it orbits and then a roman number, counting from the innermost to the outermost planet. For instance: Earth is Sol III -- MstrControl talk 14:51, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


 * As evidence by the sheer number of "Primes", that is not the standard system throughout Trek. --OuroborosCobra talk 15:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


 * My guess is also that "Prime" indicates the origin of life, if only one planet had it, for that system. However, I'm more inclined to believe that Earth (or Sol III) would be known as "Terra Prime", since humans have been called Terrans in the non-mirror universe before. (Cardassian Prime : Cardassians :: Terra Prime : Terrans) - TerranRich 18:17, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

What makes a planet considered "Prime"?
I'm sorry, but I'm confused. I have recently been sifting through Memory Alpha, and I remembered a question that I've been wondering about lately. What makes a planetoid "Prime"? An example is Tellar Prime.


 * The people who named it in the first place. Honestly?  Who knows.  There's never anything stated about why some planets are "Prime" and some aren't.  It just seems to be one of those things really. -- Sulfur 00:45, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Basically, it's whatever the writers thought sounded good. In universe, like Sulfur says... who knows? Whatever the settlers named it? Whatever the people who first discovered it called it? Or something else? -- Renegade54 00:49, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Really? That's too bad. I had thought that that was a... Classification of sorts. Sorry for the trouble. --Webmaster 2.0 00:56, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * "Prime" in scifi lit has often been applied to
 * The brightest or most important star in a group
 * The first planet in a star system
 * The only planet in a star system
 * The most important planet in a star system
 * Obviously, some "primes" we know of have not been specified to fit any of these characteristics, but there is the case of mis-nomenclature common is astro sciences -- many "alpha" stars do not actually fill their role as "brightest" of their group, because they were identified as "alphas" before the technology to accurately measure them was invented. Many "primes" might have been named as "first", "only" or "most important" only to be proven wrong by some other nearer or more important planet or star -- leaving the name as others have specified, just "sounding cool" -- Captain MKB 01:16, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

So, in other words, Prime, Alpha, and such might have something to do with Federation (or real?) history. I think, that if it wasn't the Star Trek writers making things sound cool, then it may really have something to do with Federation History. --Webmaster 2.0 03:13, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Do you mean by that a kind of nomenclature used by the Federation to name some of its planets members? Hardly. Take Cardassia Prime for instance: non-Federation planet with "Prime" in its name, fitting in one of the classifications suggested by Captainmike above. -- Gabriel O. Brum 17:07, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, what I mean is just generally: how is a planet classified as prime?


 * The writer of the episode decides that he or she likes "X Prime" more than any other name for the planet.
 * Point being, it's never discussed anywhere in Star Trek canon, and anything we do is merely speculation to try to fit a bizarre series of circumstances of one writer naming something a "Prime" that another writer wouldn't have. :) -- Sulfur 18:01, 2 May 2007 (UTC)