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"That's it, to the left of that trinary cluster."
"What?"
"Our sun."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, positive. Just another speck of light no different than any other."
"When I was a kid I'd go camping with my buddies. We'd spend half the night looking up at the stars wondering what our own sun would look like from this far away."
"Now you know."

Sol, also known as the Sun, was the primary for the Sol system. It was classified as a type-G yellow dwarf star, and located within a stellar cluster in Sector 001 (or Sol sector), a region of space in the Alpha Quadrant.

Location[]

Sol was located less than ninety light years from the primary of the Qo'noS system, a Beta Quadrant system. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Two Days and Two Nights"; Star Trek Into Darkness production art)

In "Two Days and Two Nights", the NX-class Enterprise set a milestone several months after the mission to Qo'noS ("Broken Bow"), by becoming the first Earth ship to travel ninety light years away from the Sol system. In Star Trek Into Darkness, Qo'noS was identified as a Beta Quadrant planet.

Solar system maps[]

In the late 19th century, the position of Sol was depicted on a German map of the inner system. (Star Trek: Enterprise opening credits)

In 2024, the position of Sol was depicted on a map of the Solar System, which was seen at the gala held for the Europa Mission astronauts. (PIC: "Two of One")

In 2254, the position of Sol was depicted on a map of the inner system, which was stored in the USS Enterprise library computer. This was one of the records scanned by the Talosians. (TOS: "The Cage" production art)

In 2267, the position of Sol was depicted on "Chart 14A: The Sol System", which was stored in the Enterprise library computer. This chart was scanned by the probe Nomad in auxiliary control. (TOS: "The Changeling" production art)

Star charts[]

In the 2270s, the location of Sol, and its largest planet Jupiter, was labeled on a neighborhood of astronomical objects, which was stored in the Enterprise library computer. This was one of the records scanned by V'ger. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture production art)

In 2293, the location of Sol was labeled in a map of the Milky Way Galaxy. This map was on a wall of Captain James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country okudagram)

In 2364, the location of Sol was labeled in a star chart of a stellar neighborhood with Sol at the center. This chart was stored in the USS Enterprise-D library computer. Later that year, the chart was scanned by Outpost 63. (TNG: "The Naked Now" production art; TNG: "The Last Outpost")

In 2399, the location of Sol, and the planet Earth, was labeled on a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy's office at Starfleet Headquarters. (PIC: "Maps and Legends")

History[]

Moons of jupiter 3

Sol as seen from Jupiter

Sol began to form out of nebular dust and interstellar gases around five billion years ago. (VOY: "Death Wish")

For centuries, Humans believed that Sol revolved around Earth. When the scientist Galileo Galilei publicly challenged this belief in the early 17th century, by teaching that the opposite was true – that Earth revolved around Sol, he was tried and convicted by an inquisition. The inquisition ordered that his books be burned. (TNG: "Where Silence Has Lease"; DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets")

In February of 2152, Captain Jonathan Archer pointed Sol out to Keyla in the Risan night sky. (ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights")

In April of 2153, as Enterprise NX-01 was returning home due to the Xindi attack on Earth, Ensign Travis Mayweather notified Captain Jonathan Archer that Sol could be seen on the ship's viewscreen. (ENT: "The Expanse")

During the mid-23rd century, on at least two accounts, the crew of the USS Enterprise used Sol to assist in a method of time travel known as the slingshot effect after they had been sent to the past. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Assignment: Earth")

In the year 2286, the crew of "HMS Bounty" used the "slingshot effect" to travel to the year 1986, and once again in that year to return to 2286. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

Earth and sun, TNG opening sequence

Earth surrounding the sun as seen in the TNG opening sequence

In a filmed but deleted Kirk voice-over which originally introduced TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Sol was mentioned by Kirk as one of multiple "specks of dust" while the Enterprise was on a heading out of the Milky Way Galaxy. ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Rare and Unaired Alternate Version), TOS Season 3 Blu-ray special features)

Sol appeared in the first shot of the opening sequence of the remastered Star Trek: The Next Generation, seen surrounded by the Earth, the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn, before the USS Enterprise-D started its exploration of the unknown space.

The viewscreen graphic on the bridge of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was taken from page T0:02:07:02 of the Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph. Many of the names for astronomical bodies were unique to this book.

The star chart naming stars within twenty light years of Sol was drawn by Rick Sternbach for the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology in the late 1970s. Found on page 77, this chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began.

External links[]

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