| Earth (also known in Trek nomenclature
as the Terran System) is situated within the outer regions of this galaxy,
only about 20 light years above the equatorial symmetry plane but about
28,000 light years from the Galactic Center. Because of this, the Milky
Way when observed from Earth shows up as luminous band spanning all around
the sky along this symmetry plane, which is also called the "Galactic
Equator". Its center lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius,
but very close to the border of both neighbor constellations Scorpius and
Ophiuchus. The distance of 28,000 light years has recently been confirmed
by the data of ESA's astrometric satellite Hipparcos.
The Federation has quartered the Galaxy into quadrants. If you were
to divide the galaxy into four equal sections, the top left is the Gamma
quadrant, the top right is the Delta quadrant, the botom left is the Alpha
quadrant, and the bottom right is the Beta quadrant.
The galactic core is densely populated with stars. Much of the actual
quadrants are empty space, as the stars are stretched out in spiral arms
which curve from quadrant to quadrant. In this nomenclature the Galaxy
rotates in a clockwise fashion, making that direction "spinward".
Earth is located approximately at the center of Federation space. The next
figure gives a more detailed view of the Galaxy. Any directions given in
the following descriptions will refer to "north", "south",
"east", and "west" on this map - terms which are meaningless
in space, but which should help the reader.
The Federation maps space in "sectors" - arbitrary cubes of
space twenty light-years across. This system is used partially because
twenty light-years is the distance between two subspace relay stations.
Federation space is composed of hundreds of thousands of these sectors,
each one numbered, beginning with Sector 001 - the Sun and its immediate
stellar neighborhood. Each sector contains about six to ten stars - more
closer to the Galactic Core - and, in Federation space, a subspace relay
station.
Note that the Federation has only explored some 19% of the Milky Way
galaxy.
The Milky Way Galaxy is delineated by a pair of energy barriers. The
Galactic Barrier is located at the rim of the galaxy. It is an energy field
of great magnitude which renders passage by ship extraordinarily difficult.
Furthermore, in 2266, it was shown to boost the psionic abilities of certain
humanoids to almost godlike levels. Because of this, travel to the Galactic
Barrier is interdicted by Starfleet. The Galactic Barrier fortunately serves
to keep aliens from other galaxies out - as well as us in - although not
always (see below). The Galactic Barrier at the rim of the galaxy is matched
by a Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy, which was thought to be
impenetrable, at least until the USS Enterprise crossed it in 2287. It
did not seem to boost psionic abilities.
Very few races have made it across the Galactic Barrier from outside
the Milky Way. Even with warp drives, the massive distances discourage
intergalactic travel. One such race who made it were the Kelvans, a highly
advanced race from the Andromeda Galaxy. In form they were nonhumanoids
with a hundred tentacles and no tactile perceptions or emotions, although
this was not initially discovered since they were capable of taking human
shape. The first group of Kelvans were pacified and settled within Federation
space.
Another species from the Andromeda Galaxy were a race of humanoid androids
who, because they were immoral, presumably were able to survive such a
long trip. They were created by a race of beings known as the Makers, and
when the star of the Makers' homeworld went nova some one million years
ago, the androids were stranded in their base in the Milky Way.
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