The following is just my theory - make of it what you will.
I've been following the discussion here with keen interest, and since the discovery of the Spectrogram from the UP there's been one thing that has always bothered me...
The most prominent feature of the image is the central sphere (which it clearly is) and has four clearly defined parts to it - upper left (UL), upper right (UR), lower left (LL) and lower right (LR). the corners have symbols, that people have proposed are some kind of binary count.
It strikes me however that the UR symbol is very different from the others, and I've puzzled as to why.
Because the other 3 symbols fit neatly into a binary count of 3 significant digits with 'dots' and vertical lines, some have assumed that the UR Symbol is the same, with dot, line, line - and this left the two curved liines being assumed to be part of the sphere's quadrant.
However I am wondering if the curved lines are part of the symbol - how does that fit? Well, staring for far too long at the image, I wondered if the two vertical lines at the right of the UR symbol were NOT two distinct lines, but to signify a ' - a 'NOT-line' if you will.
This then could mean that the two curved lines represent a 'NOT-curve'. So perhaps the entire UR symbol means: Not-curve, dot, Not-line. By doing this each symbol could have three parts.
Then it struck me - what if the symbols don't represent a point in space, or a (3D) bearing from one point to another, but actually represent the three possible ACTIONS one may do in a ship in space - namely Rotate, Yaw and Pitch.
Perhaps the UR symbol tells us two things at once, first that the order of the 3 actions are in fact Rotate, Yaw and Pitch? Secondly that the UR symbol means no rotation, no pitch but definately to Yaw.
That then leads on to the thought that the dot is positive, and the line is negative...and each of the symbols mean that (from a designated point), we must:
UL: Rotate and Pitch
UR: Yaw only
LL: Yaw and Pitch
LR: Rotate and Yaw
This then begs the question how far for each of these actions? Well each quadrant perhaps gives us the clue?
UL: Rotate and Pitch : 90 degrees each
UR: Yaw only : zero degrees (I know) - no effect
LL: Yaw and Pitch : 30 degrees each
LR: Rotate and Yaw: 48 degrees each (I believe someone else has mentioned that angle from the 'north' as being 138 degrees, so subtract 90)
If each of these actions were taken from a specific point, then perhaps our ship would then pointing in a specific direction which we must extrapolate to another star/system?
What point to start from? Well, if Merope 5C is so special, the only two points we can determine with any certainty is either the north or south poles.
What direction to start from? I originally thought about pointing to Merope the star, but this might change over time, but as Merope 5c is tidally locked (I believe!) to Merope 5, perhaps it is that. Is that always be a constant direction?
Anyway, this might be a lot of tests, and my head hurts so if anyone wants to try it out...?
Commander Thoron
(probably suffering space-sickness)
