The Federation Core is the central region of the Federation, and is the space around Earth. One of the reasons that the Federation was founded in the first place is that the five founding members were all in close proximity to each other, and all five races developed interstellar flight at approximately the same time, although Vulcan had space travel in some form for a longer period than the other four founding members. The five founding planets of the United Federation of Planets forms the Federation Core, and this is the most intensely developed and strongly defended part of the Federation.
On the map itself, the two-dimensional view is the projection of the stars within approximately twenty-five light years of Earth onto the xy-plane, with the top of the map pointing towards the centre of the galaxy. It is for this reason that is looks like some stars are closer to Earth than Alpha Centauri is, although Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to Earth. In the descriptions below, the number in brackets after the system name is the number of pixels above (positive number) or below (negative number) the screen that the star is "actually" located at. Try to visualize it.
Earth (Sol) [0]
Earth is the homeworld of mankind. The star it orbits is a single class-G2 star known for its stability. The Sol system has eight planets and a number of planetoids such as the asteroids and Pluto. Four of the planets are gas giants, and four are smaller, terrestrial worlds. Humans have established a large presence on Earth's natural satellite, the moon, and on Mars. Smaller operations are conducted on Ganymede, Titan and Triton, large moons of the gas giant planets. Most of the remaining planets, including Venus and Pluto, have orbiting installations of one type or another. Because Earth played a leading role in the foundation of the Federation, it is essentially the "capital" of the Federation. The Federation Council is located on Earth, as is the office of the Federation President. The primary training facility for Starfleet, Starfleet Academy, is located here as well. Starfleet Headquarters is also located on Earth, and acts as the primary co-ordinating body for Starfleet activities outside of space immediately around the member planets.
Kent (Alpha Centauri A) [-1]
Alpha Centauri is the closest star to Earth and the first star visited by mankind after the discovery of the faster-than-light drive in the late twenty-first centuary. Alpha Centauri is a triple-star system, consisting of Alpha Centauri A (class G2), Alpha Centauri B (class K1) and Alpha Centauri C (also called Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star some distance from the other two). The two main stars in the system are closely spaced, separated by as little as 11.2 AU and by as much as 35.3 AU. In the dynamics of double-star systems, stable orbits for small planets are only possible upto one quarter of the minimum distance between the two stars, so for the Alpha Centauri A system, that would mean that the system contains only four small planets, all located within 2.8 AU of the star. Fortunately, A Alpha Centauri II orbits at approximately 1 AU from the star. It is also the largest planet of the four, with the other three being smaller Mercury- and Mars-like worlds. The second planet is a near duplicate of Earth in terms of size and composition, so it is an ideal world for life-and life was what was found on this planet. In fact, mankind encountered its first inhabited planet when the first ship, the Bonaventure, arrived at the planet in 2064. The locals called the planet Kent, and the inhabitants became known as the Kentyans. The Kentyans are strongly humanoid, not varying that much from the normal humanoid plan. At the time of contact, the Kentyans understood the theoretical physics behind the faster-than-light drive, but lacked the industrial infrastructure to pursue the technology. However, because they understood the physics, the Kentyans expected contact with alien races eventually, and prepared themselves for that day. As a result, contact with humans went smoothly and advanced both cultures.
Kentyans were somewhat surprised to learn where humans had come from. To them, the single G2-class star 4.4 light years away was one of the brighest stars in their sky, and their astrophysicists had determined that there was a "significant chance of a terrestrial planet in orbit around Olaks." Olaks, of course, is the name that the Kentyans gave to that G2-class star. There was a movement on Kent to develop a method of travelling to Olaks and establish a colony on the terrestrial planet to relieve overpopulation on Kent, so it came as a surprise to them that the terrestrial planet at Olaks was in fact already heavily populated and developed.
Vulcan (40 Eridani A) [-94]
Vulcan is the name that humans have applied to the class-M planet orbiting 40 Eridani A, a star that is 16 light years from Earth. The 40 Eridani system is a double-star system, with an average separation of 400 AU between the stars, thus allowing full planetary systems around the component stars. 40 Eridani A is a class-K1 star, so a class-M planet would exist at less than half the distance to the star that Earth is from its sun. As a result, the Vulcan year is rather short, at around two hundred days. Vulcan is called by its inhabitants T'Khasi, and it is part of a double planet system with T'Khut, a much larger rocky planet. Because of the proximity of the two planets to each other, Vulcan is a seismologically active world, with extensive volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. The planet is hot and dry, supporting a limited range of vegetation and lifeforms. The Vulcans themselves are a humanoid race whose culture spans many millennia. At one time a warrior species, the Vulcans dedicated themselves to total logic and total suppression of emotion in order to prevent them from destroying their fragile world and themselves. This dedication to logic and the following of the path Surak laid out for them allowed the Vulcans to advance their science, although at one of the slowest observed rates in the known galaxy. Vulcans have had spaceflight for a prolonged period of time, but because they lacked an adequate source of dilithium, they could not travel far nor very fast. They did become aware of the developing humanoid worlds in their region of space, including Earth, and monitored those societies. However, the decision was made to contact them only when they achieved warp travel themselves, thinking that once a society develops faster-than-light travel, they should be philosophically ready to accept the existence of alien societies. It is this fundamental Vulcan philosophy of space flight and exploration that led to the Prime Directive.
Although Vulcan was the first of the five founding planets to develop warp travel, they have not pursued it. Vulcans at one point had refused to serve in Starfleet, and operated their own vessels as purely exploratory vessels. They still do this, but the Vulcan presence in Starfleet has increased dramatically since the middle of the twenty-third century. Most Vulcan science vessels are of their own design and construction, but Starfleet vessels manned primarily by Vulcan officers are generally human-designed and built ships.
Andor (Epsilon Indi) [-82]
The Epsilon Indi system is the home to Andor and the Andorian race. The star itself is a class-K5 star, a cool star with the class-M world of Andor orbiting at only 0.3 AU. The year, as a result, is very short, only around 170 days. Andor is smaller than Earth, with gravity about 0.85 of Earth's norm, and with a thinner atmosphere. The planet is not tectonically active, and so there is no real division of the surface into oceans and continents, just land masses with long, narrow seas separating them. The Andorians themselves evolved from insectoid stock, although by developing an internal skeleton to go along with a limited exoskeleton and endothermy, their body plan evolved more towards the mammalian norms. Their bluish complexion became more suitable for absorbing the orange light of their star. Although female Andorians give birth to living young, usually two at a time, they do not suckle them. Female Andorians are virtually indistinguishable from the male Andorians.
Andorians are somewhat warlike. Their society is arranged by clans and families, and on a planetary scale, by various competing philosophies of life and living. As a result, Andor did not have nation-states as mankind knew from Earth and found on Kent. However, the Andorians did have advancing physics and were developing their own warp drive capability when contact was made. They refused the offer from the first contact teams to share warp drive technology. Although humans and Andorians had limited contact after their initial meeting, with some trade and cultural exchanges, each group found the other too "alien" to easily get along with. The idea of insects, over hundreds of millions of years, evolving into larger, sentient, humanoid-like creatures, was almost too much for the human psyche to take. However, stronger relations did come during the Romulan Wars of the middle twenty-second century, when the Andorians allied with Earth and proved themselves to be worthy interstellar warriors. As a result of improving relations, Andor was invited to be a charter member of the Federation, which was formed after the Romulan Wars ended. Although a part of the Federation, Andor continues to design and build its own ships. Andor also maintains the Andorian Starflight Training Institute for training the crews on its own ships. Outside of the Andor system and its colonies, the Andorian ships work under the control of Starfleet Command.
Tellar (61 Cygni) [-11]
Tellar is the first planet around 61 Cygni A, the larger of two stars in the 61 Cygni system. Like Alpha Centauri, the two stars in the system are closely spaced, limiting the number of planets possible. The star is a class-K5 star like Andor's primary, so Tellar orbits its star at around 0.3 AU and has a year that is 170 days long. The planet is Earthlike but cool, with a mean temperature of only twelve degrees. Without extensive tropical rain forest and savannah regions, the primate species on Tellar did not evolve into anything large. Instead, the dominant form of life was a bipedal species somewhat similar to pigs, and sentience came when one species of these bipedal semi-porcine creatures evolved functioning hands. Tellarites are tall and very stocky, although much of that stockiness is muscle. As a species, Tellarites are strong but not very mobile. For this, and other, reasons, violence and war was not a way of life on Tellar. Instead, economics drove the society, and instead of war and violence, debate and argument are a way of life on Tellar. Although their science was evolving to the point where they understood that extraterrestial life was possible and could be visiting them, the arrival of ships with humans on board was something of a shock, and caused widespread panic on Tellar. They feared an invasion. However, relations were soon established, and Tellarites began to expand their capitalistic, merchandile skills on the rest of the Federation Core. Unlike other races in the Core, especially the Kentyans, medical technology and skill were not well known among the Tellarites. As a result, their life expectency is among the lowest among known sentient races. Old age generally sets in around fourty (Earth) years, and without extensive medical intervention, Tellarites generally die by the time they are sixty. Tellar does not maintain an extensive fleet of ships, and also do not serve extensively on non-Tellarite ships because living conditions are too different. Another important factor is that the design of the Tellarite hand, being somewhat different, makes using human-designed tools and equipment difficult by Tellarties, and the modern touch-panel controls on Starfleet ships almost impossible to use. Tellarite commerce has suffered in the twenty-fourth century by the appearance of the over-aggressive Ferengi.
Wolf 359 [63]
Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star located 7.8 light years from Earth. The small planets around the star are uninteresting and none are even remotely class-M. However, Wolf 359 is interesting for historical reasons. It is here that Starfleet attempted to make a stand against a Borg cube ship attempting to attack Earth. An armada of fourty ships battled the Borg ship, and thirty-nine of them were destroyed.
Sirius [-13]
Sirius is a large class-A1 star, a white giant. It has an equally large planetary system with sixteen planets, eight of which are gas giants. One planet is vaguely class-M, but because Sirius is such a short-lived star, life really cannot evolve on any planets around it. Thus there are no native "Sirians." However, because the star and its planets are so young, the planets in particular are rich in mineral resources. The fourth planet, Sirius IV, is approximately class-M and with terraforming, could be made inhabitable by humans. The planet orbits the star at around 6.1 AU and takes over 700 days to complete one trip around the star. The planet also shows extensive signs of having been settled and exploited, as Federation archaeologists have found evidence of six different settlements on the planet over a span of three million years. All but the last of those settlements were by unknown races. Despite this previous activity, Sirius IV contains many valuable minerals, including extensive dilithium deposits (although all the good, easily-accessible dilithium was mined out long ago), and so the Federation maintains mining operations there, alongside the archaeological teams.
Vega [81]
Like Sirius, Vega is a white giant star of the class A0, so the star is too young and will exist on the main sequence for too short a period to allow sentient life to evolve. Most of Vega's planets are rocky worlds, although Vega IX is fully class-M. This particular planet has been terraformed and is now quite a comfortable world to live on, although a year that is just under 800 days long can be difficult to adjust to. The terraformers were a humanoid race, an offshoot of the Orions, who settled on this planet, and eventually evolved an advanced, technological society that subjugated the space-going races over a wide area. This became known as the Vegan Tyranny, and was the reason that Vulcan space travellers did not travel extensively beyond their own system. However, the Vegan Tyranny reached its peak in the eighteenth century, and by the middle of the twentieth century, it was collapsing. Although noted warriors, the Vegans were not all that skilled in medical research, and were unaware that their terraforming efforts and the interactions between their biology and the native biology of the planet was having a catastrophic effects. A disease called Vegan choriomeningitis, locally called "brain fever," had been endemic in the planet for hundreds of years and was considered a nuance more than anything else. Then the virus that caused it mutated and became deadly, killing its victims usually within a day. This disease swept across Vega IX and so weakened the Vegan Tyranny that it became vulnerable to its enemies, who moved in and destroyed it. They left Vega IX in ruins and the population, within fifty years, died out totally. Vegan choriomeningitis remains endemic in the planet's plant and animal life, and has become one of the few "trans-xenotype" diseases known. The virus itself does not actually damage a non-Vegan, and does not cause the brain-fever symptoms in other species. What it does do in certain races is that it ties up the immune system so effectively that other infections, which normally would be handled by the immune system, slip in and become deadly. The effect of this disease varies by species. Humans, for example, can become carriers but do not suffer any symptoms, nor are their immune systems compromised. Kentyans can suffer other infections as the disease ties up the immune systems, but they can fight off the infections. In Andorians, vegan choriomeningitis can damage the immune system and allow other diseases to slip in, but treatments are available. In Odonans, the disease has no effect whatsoever. Starfleet requires that human carriers of the disease be treated to remove the virus, in case they should infect a world that they are in first contact with.
Tau Ceti [-106]
Tau Ceti is a single class G8 star, and when mankind entered space, it was considered a likely location for a class-M planet and perhaps even a sentient civilization. However, no class-M planet suitable for humanoid life was found there, just one that barely made the description. Tau Ceti II is a frozen wasteland, with a marine botany that gives the planet a barely-breathable oxygen atmosphere. There is evidence than an unknown race attempted to terraform the planet millennia ago, but no evidence that the planet was ever settled. Tau Ceti II has become legendary for "unexplained occurrences" and "mysterious failures." Most spacefarers would simply choose to pass Tau Ceti by.
SOURCES for this file:
The star field on the map was generated by a QuickBasic program using the data from the Gliese Third Catalogue of Nearby Stars. The information on the races and planets described here are not necessarily canon in the official "Star Trek" universe, but are considered canonical in the version of the "Star Trek" universe that the Athena operates in. The identity of the five founding planets of the Federation with known stars is accepted by fandom and is followed here. The physical descriptions of the races and the planets in some cases is from the book "The Worlds of the Federation" (Shane Johnson, Pocket Books, 1989), and in other cases, the descriptions are based on the site creator's interpretation of the race and also astrophysical data on likely class-M planets around the known stars.
Return to the Federation Core Map.
Return to the Map Index.
Return to the Star Trek: Athena Home Page.
(c) 1999 by White Tornado Publishing, all rights reserved. "Star Trek" is a trademark property of Paramount Pictures, and commercial use of this property is prohibited. "Star Trek: Athena" is a non-commerical hobby site created for the entertainment of the site creator and visitors to the site. Trademark infringement is not intended. The map as portrayed here is not considered canonical within the "Star Trek" universe, but represents one interpretation of that universe.
