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40 Eridani is a trinary star system comprised of a giant primary star, 40 Eridani A, and two other stars. The other two stars in the system are a red dwarf and a white dwarf, 40 Eridani B and 40 Eridani C. The stars of the 40 Eridani group support the Vulcan system, the home system of the Vulcan race and their homeworld of Vulcan. It is visible from Earth in the constellation of Eridanus located approximately 16.45 light-years distant. (ST reference: Star Fleet Technical Manual; DS9 novel: Field Trip; ENT episodes: "Home", "Daedalus")
History and specifics[]
The system was the origin of at least two sentient species – Vulcans of the planet Vulcan in orbit of 40 Eridani A and Kerkhovians of the moon of the planet Kerkhov in orbit of the 40 Eridani B and C binary stars. (SNW episode: "Charades")
According to Starfleet Intelligence outpost maps, this system's coordinates were 0.09N 2.31W, placing it in the Starfleet Intelligence sector 4. (FASA RPG module: Star Fleet Intelligence Manual)
In 2370, Keiko O'Brien showed her students 40 Eridani on a star chart that also displayed Sol and Deep Space 9. (DS9 novel: Field Trip)
The system contained dilithium deposits. (ST video game: Fleet Command)
- The system has an ID code of 39 in the game software and the player is likely to encounter a Starfleet patrol or Federation trader here.
System makeup[]
- 40 Eridani A (Nevasa[1][2], Ko'vel[3])
- First asteroid belt[3]
- Ket-Cheleb[3][4][5][2]
- Vulcan (Ni'Var[6], T'Khasi[7][8][2], Minshara[8], Ti-Valka'ain[3])
- T'Khut[1][4][5][9][2] (The Watcher[1][10], T'Rukh[10], Valdena[3], Charis[1][10])
- T'Rukhemai[10][4][2] (Amma[5])
- Second asteroid belt[3][9][2]
- Delta Vega[4][5][2] (Tel-Alep[3])
- Kal-Apton[3]
- Kir Alep[3]
- Vulcanis VII[11][1]
- Kuiper belt[12]
- 40 Eridani B (Sudoc[3]) and 40 Eridani C (Surak[3])
- While the infographic seen briefly in SNW episode: "Charades" depicts Kerkhov as the only planet in orbit of 40 Eridani B and C, in ST video game: Infinite Eridani C is randomly orbited by between 2 and 4 planets.
Appendices[]
Connections[]
| Stars, systems and objects of the Eridanus constellation |
|---|
| 1 Eridani (Tau-1 Eridani) • 3 Eridani (Azha, Eta Eridani) • 13 Eridani (Zibal, Zeta Eridani) • 14 Eridani • 18 Eridani (Delta Orcus, Toredar, Epsilon Eridani) • 23 Eridani (Rana, Delta Eridani) • 34 Eridani (Gamma Eridani, Zaurak) • 38 Eridani (Beid, Omicron-1 Eridani) • 40 Eridani (Keid, Omicron-2 Eridani, Vulcanis) • 59 Eridani • 67 Eridani (Cursa, Beta Eridani) • 82 Eridani • 88 Eridani • 198 Eridani • Alpha Eridani (Achernar) • Beta Eridani (Cursa, 67 Eridani) • Chi Eridani (Caleb, Kaleb) • Delta Eridani (Rana, 23 Eridani) • Epsilon Eridani (Delta Orcus, Toredar, 18 Eridani) • Eta Eridani (Azha, 3 Eridani) • Gamma Eridani (34 Eridani, Zaurak) • Iota Eridani • Omicron-1 Eridani (Beid, 38 Eridani) • Omicron-2 Eridani (Keid, 40 Eridani, Vulcanis) • p Eridani • Tau-1 Eridani (1 Eridani) • Tau Eridani Cloud • Theta Eridani (Acamar) • Zaurak (34 Eridani, Gamma Eridani) • Zeta Eridani (Zibal, 13 Eridani) |
Background[]
The Starfleet Technical Manual, a licensed work, established the location of Vulcan at 40 Eridani, a real star system that modern astronomers have observed. While the 1973 Technical Manual reference was the earliest description of this system's inhabitation, the system location was not established in canon until episodes of Enterprise described the world as being 16 light years from Earth, the real-life measurement of 40 Eridani's distance. The ST reference: Spaceflight Chronology is one source that differed with canon, listing the Vulcan system as orbiting Epsilon Eridani, a system that is not 16 ly away. Likewise, the Star Trek Online website's defunct Points of Interest section stated that Vulcan is located in the Sirius system, a star 8.6 LY from Sol (though the game itself gives the 40 Eri location in the Vulcan system's tooltip). Vulcan system being 40 Eridani was finally made canon in the PIC episode: "Maps and Legends".
The Worlds of the Federation omits mention of the second and third star and additional planets outside of the asteroid belt. The film Star Trek also established another planet called Delta Vega, which orbited close enough to Vulcan that it could be seen clearly from Delta Vega's surface. According to the novelization of that film, a planet named T'Khul is "the Vulcan system's third world. In ST video game: Infinite, Delta Vega is the fourth planet of the system, which would identify it with Last Unicorn Games' Tel-Alep (Vulcan IV). Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library places it in the same orbital position but calls it a planetoid instead.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 TOS novel: Spock's World
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 ST reference: Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Last Unicorn RPG modules: The Way of Kolinahr, Planets of the UFP
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 ST video game: Infinite
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 ST video game: Fleet Command
- ↑ DSC episode: "Unification III"
- ↑ ST reference: The Worlds of the Federation
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 TOS - Myriad Universes - Shattered Light novel: The Tears of Eridanus
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 SNW episode: "Charades"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 TOS novel: Sarek
- ↑ ST reference: Spaceflight Chronology
- ↑ ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing
External links[]
- 40 Eridani article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- 40 Eridani article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.