Canopus (or Alpha Carinae) was a star and associated planetary system,located in the Beta Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy, approximately 310 light-years from Sol. The star was an A-type white giant, nad often used as a reference point for celestial navigation. It lay at the eastern edge of the Canopus Core, a large portion of Federation space to which it lent its name.
The system contained several planets, the inner five of which were Class M or otherwise life-sustaining. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Ultimate Computer", "Wolf in the Fold"; TAS: "The Eye of the Beholder"; TNG: "The Chase")
The system was first surveyed by humans sometime in the 22nd century, and contact was made with the Canopian people of Alpha Carinae IV. Friendly relations were established, and "the Canopus Planet" became a center of trade in the region, as well as a popular shore leave destination. The Canopians welcomed human immigrants to their world, and Canopus IV became an early member of the United Federation of Planets within just a few years of its founding. The indigenous people of Alpha Carinae II, however, were a pre-warp civilization, and contact was forbidden until the late 23rd century. By the 2320s, that world, too, had joined the Federation, and a spaceport had been established there. Alpha Carinae I, while inhabited (and whose population included humans), remained non-aligned through at least 2370. (Star Trek: Pendragon; TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Ultimate Computer"; TNG: "Eye of the Beholder", "Inheritance", "The Chase")
Canopus III had no sentient life, but was inhabited by multiple species of large dinosaurs. Alpha Carinae V was home to the Drella, a non-corporeal lifeform that sustained itself on the emotions of other creatures, notably love. (TAS: "The Eye of the Beholder"; TOS: "Wolf in the Fold")
Several starships and at least one starship class were named for the star. (Star Fleet Technical Manual; FASA: The Four Years War, Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)
System[]
- Alpha Carinae (Canopus)
- Alpha Carinae I
- Alpha Carinae II
- Canopus III
- Canopus IV (aka Canopus Planet)
- Alpha Carinae V
- Canopus VI
- Canopus VII (aka Canopus Major)
External links[]
- Canopus article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Canopus article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Canopus article at Star Trek Expanded Universe, the fanon and fanworks Star Trek wiki.