Strange new worlds
Besides Earth, probably the most important planet in Star Trek is Vulcan, homeworld of Mr. Spock. Early on, some official reference books listed magnitude 3.7 Epsilon (ε) Eridani as the star around which it orbited. During an episode of Enterprise, however, Chief Engineer Tucker states that Vulcan is 16 light-years from Earth. And Epsilon Eri is only 10.5 light-years away.
Current Trek star maps place Vulcan in the Omicron2 (ο2) Eridani system. This triple star, also known as Keid and 40 Eri, is some 16.3 light-years from Earth. Its primary glows at magnitude 4.4. To find it, look 15° west of Rigel.
The brightest star visited by any Star Trek crew on television or film is Canopus (Alpha [α] Carinae), which observers can spot from the southernmost states. Shining at magnitude –0.7, it’s the second-brightest star in our night sky. It featured in The Original Series episode “The Ultimate Computer.” In the episode, which takes place in 2268, the scientist Richard Daystrom installs a tactical computer aboard the Enterprise. The device can control the ship with some 5 percent of its normal crew. Its first task is to survey the inhabited planet Alpha Carinae II.
Note that the brightest nighttime star, Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), also has a planetary system whose members served as settings for stories, but only in Star Trek books or video games.
The third-brightest star in our sky, Alpha Centauri, is a triple system that’s famous as the nearest star system to our own. It’s also famous in the Star Trek universe, hosting no less than 22 planets. Thirteen of them circle Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Cen A), five orbit Alpha Cen B, and four more travel around Proxima Centauri (Alpha Cen C).
What’s more, three of these planets are populated. Including outposts and space stations, this system supports some 21 billion inhabitants. When you spot Alpha Centauri (only visible from latitudes south of 30° north), imagine how cool it would be if, in reality, any planets around those stars contained the simplest form of life, let alone intelligent life.
Our next entry is one that requires some searching to see. In the Star Trek universe, more than 150 planetary civilizations belong to a democratic society known as the United Federation of Planets. Such a body often needs neutral ground for negotiations: a planet named Babel, which orbits the star Wolf 424.
This star, also known as FL Virginis, is a system of two red dwarfs a bit more than 14 light-years away that together glow just brighter than a meager 13th magnitude. You’ll need an 8-inch or larger scope, a dark site, an excellent star chart (or software), and lots of patience to track it down. But for a true fan of Star Trek, that’s a small price to pay to spot a star whose planet has two episodes — “Journey to Babel” and “Babel One” — named for it.
The stellar moniker Menkar may not be familiar to Star Trek fans. But call this star Ceti Alpha, and it will immediately conjure up the image of Khan Noonien Singh. This character first appeared in The Original Series episode “Space Seed,” and then in the movies Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Though referred to in Star Trek as Ceti Alpha, a luminary that has at least six planets in orbit, it’s more correct to call this star Alpha Ceti. However, Star Trek’s writers aren’t the only ones to break convention regarding the star’s designation. The alpha star is usually the brightest star in a constellation. Not in Cetus the Whale, though. That honor goes to Diphda (Beta [β] Ceti), which, at magnitude 2.0, is 58 percent brighter than magnitude 2.5 Alpha. Both stars are easy to spot in the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn sky.