Arcturus, also known as Alpha Boötis, was a planetary system in the Alpha Quadrant. This star was the fourth brightest star in Earth's night sky.
Components[]
Stellar system[]
This was a single star system. The primary Aldebaran (the proper name for Alpha Boötis) was a K-type red giant.
Planetary system[]
In this system, there was the Arcturian homeworld. The adjective "Arcturian" was used to refer to this species or to the system. For example, the beverage Arcturian fizz was implied to have come from this system or have some relationship to the Arcturians or the system. (TOS: "The Conscience of the King"; TNG: "Ménage à Troi"; ENT: "Cold Front")
Lifeforms[]
The Arcturian dog bird was native to this system. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")
Stellar cartography[]
The Arcturus system was visible from Earth in the constellation Boötes. The system was approximately 37 light years from Sol.
Location of Arcturus (Alpha Boötis) on a United Earth star chart, 2154
In the 2150s, this system's position was labeled on an United Earth star chart which was displayed in several crew and guest quarters aboard the Enterprise. (Star Trek: Enterprise, set decoration)
In 2259, the location of this system was seen on a stellar cartography chart seen on the USS Enterprise's ready room viewscreen. The system's symbol had a blue color, indicating that it was affiliated with the Federation. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")
On stardate 1292.4, the location of this system was labeled in a chart used during a Section 31 Alpha Team briefing. (Star Trek: Section 31)
The system's location was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy's office at Starfleet Headquarters in 2399 and on the bridge of the USS Titan-A in 2401. Arcturus was in or near to Federation space. (PIC: "Maps and Legends", "The Next Generation", "Disengage")
In 2401, the location of Arcturus was labeled on a star chart that was seen on the USS Stargazer's bridge viewscreen. The chart was used to show the location of the combined Starfleet-Borg armada and where it needed to go to face a galactic-level threat. (PIC: "Farewell")
Later that year, this system's position was labeled on a star chart used by Captain William T. Riker during his attempt at finding the last known location of the SS Eleos XII. (PIC: "The Next Generation")
Location of Arcturus labeled on a star chart (3190)
In 3190, the location of Arcturus was labeled on a star chart used by Commander Paul Stamets for tracking the movement of the Dark Matter Anomaly through the galaxy. (DIS: "The Examples")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
Information on this system was derived from the episodes, the reference works Star Trek: Star Charts and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library, and real-world sources. The reference works were used extensively in the creation of star charts seen in Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. The real-world information added to the article was current as of 2025.
In orbit of Arcturus, there was the densely populated homeworld of the Arcturians. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 131; Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9, "Who is that Alien?", January 2002)
In an early story outline for the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Cage" (29 June 1964), when the lead was still Robert April, the captive creatures kept by the Talosians in their zoo-menagerie included a race that was reminiscent of a "civilization April himself has seen –the intelligent Lemur-life of a Class M planet in the Arcturus system." (The Making of Star Trek, p. 59)
The term "Arcturus" would also appear in the pronunciation guide of the script for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Attached" (7 September 1993), but further references to the term are excised from the remainder of the script.
In the Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets I") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), the primary of the system was a K-class star. A planet in this system was known as Arcturus, which was a Federation member in 2378.
The star chart seen in the series Star Trek: Enterprise made its first appearance in Crewman Daniels quarters in "Cold Front". It was also seen in several other episodes of the series, from 2151 to 2154. (For more information, see Federation star charts#United Earth Alpha/Beta star chart)
Two ships were named for the Hawaiian name for the star, the SS Hokule'a and USS Hokule'a.
External links[]
- Arcturus at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Arcturus at Wikipedia