Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the finale of Picard and the continuations of Discovery, Lower Decks, Prodigy and Strange New Worlds, the advent of new eras in Star Trek Online gaming, as well as other post-56th Anniversary publications such as the new ongoing IDW comic. Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{spoiler}}, {{spoilers}} or {{majorspoiler}} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old. Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. 'Thank You

READ MORE

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Milky Way

The Milky Way Galaxy as depicted in USS Voyager's astrometrics lab in 2374.

The Milky Way ("the galaxy") is a spiral galaxy in which most of recorded history takes place. The name "The Milky Way" comes from the Human civilization of the planet Earth; the galaxy is also known as the "home galaxy" to many races. (TNG video game: Echoes from the Past)

History and specifics[]

Enterprise barrier

The USS Enterprise approaching the galactic barrier.

The Milky Way is approximately thirteen billion years old and 100,000 light-years across, 15,000 light-years deep at the galactic core and contains approximately 200 billion stars which orbit the galactic core over a period of around 220 million years. Somewhat unusually, the Galaxy is enveloped in an energy field known as the galactic barrier. A similar field, the Great Barrier, encloses much of the Galactic Core. Both fields were created by the Q Continuum to protect the galaxy from, respectively, 0 and The One. (TNG novel: Q-Strike) These fields had the effect of making the Milky Way a safe haven from both natural phenomena and any malicious entities, such as the beings described above. Several races, such as the Caeliar, were unwilling to leave the Milky Way, as they would then lose the protection offered by the Great and Galactic Barriers.

Milky Way Galaxy Map

Map of the Milky Way Galaxy.

In addition to the main body of the Milky Way, the galaxy has a number of smaller companion bodies, most notably the smaller and larger Magellanic Clouds. The galaxy is also in the process of absorbing a dwarf Galaxy SagDEG. The Milky Way's nearest large neighbor is the Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.2 million light-years away.

The Galaxy is naturally subdivided into a number of "arms", with the Federation and its neighbors mostly occupying the Orion Arm. However, for the sake of standardized navigation the Federation and most other galactic powers divide the Galaxy into four equal segments: the Quadrants.

Given the huge size of the Galaxy and the limited velocities available at warp speed a number of races use networks of subspace pathways to navigate the galaxy. Some are natural such as those formally controlled by the Vaadwaur, whereas others are artificial constructs such as the Borg Transwarp, Iconian Gateway and the Caeliar subspace tunnel networks or the Bajoran wormhole. (ST reference: Star Charts)

Galactic arms[]

Galactic arms

Galactic arms of the Beta and Delta Quadrants.

(radiating from the center clockwise)

Galactic quadrants[]

Appendices[]

External links[]

Advertisement