Occult was the name of a single star and its associated planetary system in Cluster Z-80 of the Sagittarian Stellar Group, in the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy. The system contained at least twelve planets, the fourth, Belle Terre, being Class M. In the late-23rd century, the Occult system lay some nine months from the coreward edge of Federation space.
The star was named for a flickering distortion effect from the Gamma Night phenomenon that "occulted" it, causing it to go dark (from the Federation's perspective) at regular intervals. It was near to a pair of binary stars called Whistler and Mother.
The system was the destination of the Belle Terre Colonial Expedition, which set out to colonize Belle Terre in 2278, arriving there in mid-2279. (Star Trek: New Earth novel: Wagon Train to the Stars)
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Notes[]
- The travel times and warp speeds given in New Earth vary in consistency with established warp scales, so pinpointing the location of the system is difficult. It appears to be in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation and could be anywhere from 150 to 300 light-years from Earth. The "nine months at warp two" figure would place it far too close to Earth, no matter which scale is used. "Six months at warp six" is a far more common figure given in the books, and going by the TNG scale, fits within those parameters, giving a distance of about 200 light-years beyond Federation space. This puts Occult somewhere in the vicinity of Sigma Sagittarii, but not quite as far out as Delta Sagittarii.
- The system is presumably in or near the Sagittarius Reach. (DTI novel: Watching the Clock)
External links[]
- Occult system article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Occult system article at Star Trek Expanded Universe, the fanon and fanworks Star Trek wiki.