List of Star Trek regions of space
Several films and episodes of the science fiction franchise Star Trek are set in distinct astrographical regions of space. Some of these fictional locations exhibit anomalous physical properties; others are defined as sensitive buffer zones under various fictional political accords.
This list describes some of the more significant settings for Star Trek films or story arcs over multiple television episodes.
Badlands
The Badlands comprise an area of space that appears in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.Located in Star Treks Alpha Quadrant, the Badlands are characterized by constant plasma storms and funnel clouds. The Maquis use it in several episodes as a meeting or hiding place because of its treacherous navigation. It is also known to harbor some planets hidden within the clouds and nebulae.
In "Caretaker", the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the titular starship pursues a Maquis ship into the Badlands before being pushed by an energy wave to the Delta Quadrant.
In "Erigah", the seventh episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, the Badlands are determined to be the temporary location of a next clue to finding vital creation-of-life technology.
The Badlands are also mentioned in the computer game Star Trek: Armada II, where the Borg build up forces in that area close to the Federation.
Bajoran wormhole
In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Bajoran wormhole is a spatial anomaly located within of the planet Bajor. It appears as an aperture of swirling golden-white light surrounded by blue clouds, which appears whenever a vessel approaches or exits from it and disappears again afterwards. The wormhole can only be traversed by ships traveling at impulse velocities.The Bajoran wormhole is discovered in the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is found to connect the Bajor-B'Hava'el system in the Alpha Quadrant to the Idran system in the Gamma Quadrant, which are seventy thousand light-years apart. Due to the strategic importance of such a phenomenon, the Deep Space Nine space station is moved out of Bajor's orbit and repositioned from the wormhole, where it acts as a gateway.
Starfleet Commander Benjamin Sisko and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax are the first people to make contact with the wormhole's mysterious creators, who dwell inside it. Though these incorporeal beings are simply referred to as "wormhole aliens" by the Federation, they are revered as Prophets in the Bajoran religion, and the wormhole itself is referred to as the "Celestial Temple". It is these "Prophets" who provided the Orb-like energy artifacts to the Bajorans, and these mystical artifacts are the basis of Bajoran religion. Via one of the Orbs, the wormhole is closed by one of the Pah Wraiths, malevolent non-corporeal beings who are enemies of the Prophets. The wormhole is later restored via an additional Orb discovered by Sisko, who is prophesied to be the Prophets' Emissary.
The Briar Patch
Regions called the Briar Patch feature in more than one series.Briar Patch in ''Star Trek: Insurrection''
The Briar Patch is a nebula in sector 441 in the Star Trek universe. It was first introduced in the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection. While the nebula's visual characteristics are reminiscent of astronomical photographs, many of its more interesting properties were invented to support the film's storyline.Located in Federation territory, the Briar Patch is a region of space that starships usually avoid; various radiation sources and energy fluctuations impair communications systems, making it difficult for vessels inside the nebula to make contact with those outside the nebula. Cloud pockets of "metreon gas", a highly volatile substance of unknown composition, make travel through the nebula difficult as well; warp drives cannot be used, and even impulse drives are undermined.
The planet featured in Star Trek: Insurrection is a class-M world; it is unusual for its possession of an intricate planetary ring system. The Ba'ku have established a colony on the surface, where the colonists rejected most forms of advanced technology and attempted to create a utopian society. Some time after their arrival, the colonists discovered that "metaphasic radiation" from the Briar Patch has become concentrated in the planet's rings, continually rejuvenating their genetic structure; unbeknownst to the outside universe, the Ba'ku planet is effectively a fountain of youth.
Briar Patch in ''Star Trek: Enterprise''
The Klingon system Klach D'Kel Brakt is also given the designation "Briar Patch" by Dr Arik Soong in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Augments". At least two inhabitable planets exist there; Soong and his band of Augments attempt to reach the system and use it as a hideout. In 2272, it was also the site of a dramatic Romulan/Klingon confrontation, which was led on the Klingon side by the future Dahar Master Kor, who frequently re-enacts the battle with his fellow veterans and Dahar Masters, Koloth and Kang.Delphic Expanse
The Delphic Expanse, commonly shortened to "the Expanse", is the setting for the entire third season of Star Trek: Enterprise, first aired in 2003 and 2004.The Expanse is about 2000 light years across, surrounded by thick thermobaric clouds. Its edge is located about 50 light-years from Earth. It is the home of the previously unknown hostile races collectively known as the Xindi, but the crew of the Enterprise discovers that the Xindi are being manipulated into their enmity by other forces with vested interests in the region.
Intense gravitational distortions, similar to quantum singularities, make travel through the Expanse extremely difficult, as it seems that space does not obey the known laws of physics in this region. Travelers risk injury, disfigurement, and death if their vessels are not lined with the protective metal Trellium-D.
Species native to the Expanse include the Loque'eque, the Skagarans, the Triannon, and the Xindi.
Featured locations of the Expanse include Azati Prime, the Calindra system, Oran'taku, Triannon, and Xindus.
History of the Expanse
Thousands of years ago, a number of cloaked spheres the size of small moons were constructed throughout the Expanse by trans-dimensional beings as a prelude to invasion; their purpose was to alter the fabric of space in the region, to make it habitable for the Sphere Builders. One area of the Expanse, 700 million kilometers wide and centrally located within a group of spheres, has already been distorted into a bubbling particle soup with an organic appearance. The spheres use artificial intelligence and operate as a network, with several providing command functions.Because the spheres are cloaked, their exact number is unknown. Triannons believe that there are thousands of spheres. Xindi scientists, including Degra, determined that there were at least 78 spheres.
The Triannons call the Expanse the "Chosen Realm", and formed a religion around the spheres and the mythology of their creation.
In 2037, a temporally divergent starship Enterprise from 2154 becomes stranded in the Expanse; it becomes a generational ship, dedicated to countering the Xindi threat destined to arise in the 2150s.
In about 2133, a group of Klingons enter the Expanse, but return anatomically inverted. Unsuccessful attempts to explore the region are also made by the Vulcan ships Seleya and Vaankara. The Seleya is later discovered with its crew driven mad due to exposure to Trellium-D, and subsequently destroyed.
In about June 2153, the Earth Starfleet ship Enterprise enters the Expanse to locate the Xindi. It is followed later in the year by the Andorian ship Kumari.
On February 13, 2154, the Enterprise destroys the network of Spheres, reverting the distorted space to its natural form, and gradually dissipating the thermobaric cloud barrier. The Expanse thus ceases to exist, becoming a normal, unthreatening region of space.
Although the Enterprise
Galactic Barrier and Great Barrier
In the Star Trek universe, the Galactic Barrier is an energy field that surrounds the Milky Way Galaxy. The field completely encompasses the galactic disk, preventing a conventional starship from traveling beyond the edge of the galaxy. It is not clear whether the energy barrier is a natural or artificially created phenomenon.Although numerous attempts to travel outside the galaxy are made, with various degrees of success, the barrier usually damages or destroys ships that try to pass through it. It also has psychoactive effects; some personnel gain powerful telekinetic and telepathic abilities when traveling near the barrier.
The barrier appears as a pink band of light and, upon entering it, a ship is surrounded by dazzling clouds of colorful energy. Inside the barrier, a ship's engines shut down and navigational systems become erratic.
The Galactic Barrier makes its first appearance in the original series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", in which the crew of the USS Enterprise must deal with those affected by the psychic powers of the field—as did the crew of the ill-fated SS Valiant, which encountered the same barrier two centuries earlier.
The barrier is encountered again in the episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", where the Enterprise becomes lost within the barrier and is saved by the astounding navigational skills of an alien passenger.
The barrier had also damaged an alien ship from outside the galaxy, as explained in the episode "By Any Other Name", stranding the aliens until they try to steal the Enterprise and return to their home galaxy, Andromeda.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, the USS Discovery must venture past the galactic barrier in the 32nd century to make contact with an alien race known as Species 10-C who are using a gravitational anomaly to mine boronite from the Milky Way galaxy, threatening the existence of anything that crosses its path. By this point in time, the energies of the galactic barrier had grown strong enough that shields were actually weakened by passing through, forcing the crew to find and hide in bubbles of stable space to enact repairs before continuing their travels. After Discovery convinced Species 10-C to stand down, the aliens used their wormhole to return Discovery to Earth, negating the need for travel back through the barrier.
In the Star Trek: Discovery series finale "Life, Itself," Discovery used its spore drive to send a Breen dreadnaught and scout ship to the galactic barrier. Commander Rayner noted that it would take a couple of decades for the ships to return, but the crews would survive.
A second barrier at the core of the Milky Way is first revealed in the motion picture Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Being the only encounter ever shown, the only known reference is the "Great Barrier". This energy barrier at the core is thought to be impenetrable like the one at the edge of the galaxy; however, it is revealed that only mankind's natural fear of the unknown is keeping mankind from entering it.
;Non-canonical explanations
Various books try to explain the existence of the galactic barrier, although none of these are canonical:
- The series of novels known as Star Trek: The Q Continuum explain the two barriers, stating that they were created by the Continuum 600,000 years ago, to keep one omnipotent being sealed away at the center of the Galaxy, and to keep another locked out of the galaxy forever; this is due to both aliens' previous destructive rampages.
- In William Shatner's novel Captain's Glory, Picard mentions the events of the Q Continuum trilogy, but states that the barrier was built by the proto-humanoids shown in "The Chase" 4 billion years ago, to protect their "children" from a dark matter entity known as the Totality.
- The novel Q-Squared reveals the Galactic Barrier to be Q himself, in a time-tossed and temporally discorporated state.