Alpha Quadrant

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 (or is referenced) in episodes of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' and '' Star Trek: Voyager''.

Located in ''Star Trek''s 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 ('' DS9'' S1Ep2: " Emissary (Part 2)") 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 (sub-light speed) 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 (or " Tears of the Prophets") 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 (NX-01)'' 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 (and still alive). 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'' (NX-01) 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'''s Captain Jonathan Archer is shown a possible timeline in which the Expanse becomes a major threat to the future United Federation of Planets, this eventuality appears to be eliminated by the successful destruction of the Spheres.

Galactic Barrier and Great Barrier

In the ''Star Trek'' universe, the Galactic Barrier (also referred to as the Great Barrier or Energy 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 (as seen in "Where No Man Has Gone Before").

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 (known as "The One", which is the same alien encountered in ''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'') sealed away at the center of the Galaxy, and to keep another (known as "0", whose powers can rival even the Q) 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" (the races they seeded across the galaxy) 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.

Galactic quadrants

In the original ''Star Trek'', "quadrant" is used interchangeably with "sector". However, beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', the term refers to a galactic coordinate system.

Galactic quadrants within ''Star Trek'' are based around a meridian that runs from the center of the galaxy through Earth's Solar System, which is not unlike the system of quadrants used by non-fictional astronomers. However, rather than have the perpendicular axis run through the Sun, as is done in astronomy, the ''Star Trek'' version runs the axis through the Galactic Center. Also, rather than ordinals, quadrants are designated by the Greek letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

According to StarTrek.com, "if the great plane of the galaxy is viewed as a clock face and the 6 o'clock position bisects the Sol system" (when viewed from the galactic north pole), then the four fictional quadrants are as follows:
*Alpha Quadrant is the quarter appearing between 6 and 9 o'clock.
*Beta Quadrant is the quarter appearing between 3 and 6 o'clock.
*Gamma Quadrant is the quarter appearing between 9 and 12 o'clock.
*Delta Quadrant is the quarter appearing between 12 and 3 o'clock.

Alpha and Beta Quadrants

The Alpha Quadrant and the nearby areas of the Beta Quadrant comprise the primary setting of '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', and '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. According to the ''Encyclopedia'', the Federation is largely on the Alpha Quadrant side, but with parts in the Beta Quadrant, whereas the Klingon and Romulan Empires are mainly in the Beta Quadrant but extend in part into the Alpha Quadrant. The ''Star Trek Star Charts'' have the Romulans and Klingons entirely within the Beta Quadrant, as well as the Gorn Hegemony, the Son'a Solidarity, and the Metron Consortium. The ''Star Trek Star Charts'' further locate in the Alpha Quadrant the First Federation, Breen, Ferengi, Tzenkethi, Cardassians, Bajorans, Talarians, and Tholians.

'' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' implies that the Alpha/Beta border runs through, or is relatively close to, Federation space. The '' Star Trek Encyclopedia'' attributes this decision to rationalize a line in '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', in which James T. Kirk claims that the ''Enterprise'' is the only Federation ship in the quadrant. Maps produced by the art staff for the series show that the Alpha/Beta border runs through the Solar System.

The ''Star Trek Star Charts'' claim that the Beta Quadrant contains the core worlds Vulcan ( 40 Eridani), Andoria (Procyon), Risa, and the Rigel ( Beta Orionis) systems; the Alpha Quadrant contains Tellar (61 Cygni), Trill, and Betazed.

Gamma Quadrant

The Dominion, which is one of the most aggressive antagonists

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