Milky Way Galaxy

From UNICOMP, the Universal Compendium

The Milky Way Galaxy is a large barred spiral galaxy that is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter, and contains about 350 billion stars. It is a member of the Trifecta along with Corscan and Triana.

Contents 1 Basic Information 2 Age 3 Stellar Cartography 3.1 The Alpha Quadrant 3.2 The Beta Quadrant 3.3 The Gamma Quadrant 3.4 The Delta Quadrant 3.5 Other Locations Of Note

[edit] Basic Information

The galaxy is composed of three major parts: the Core, which contains a black hole, the Disk, which is the ring of stars and interstellar dust that gives the galaxy its spiral shape, and the Halo, which includes many older stars orbiting the core, but outside the disc, of which most are concentrated in massive globular clusters.

By Convergence Day, the known species had had charted about 27% of the galaxy. Only one out of every 43,000 planets in the galaxy supports intelligent lifeforms, with around 75% of those lifeforms not yet capable of interplanetary travel.

[edit] Age

While the exact age of the galaxy is open to scientific conjecture, when observing evolutonal and technical advancements of species in Corscan when compared to that of the Milky Way, it can be assumed that the galaxy itself is younger than its intergalactic counterpart.

[edit] Stellar Cartography

The Milky Way is divided into four major areas called quadrants: Alpha, Beta,Gamma and Delta, each of which compose one-quarter of the galaxy.

[edit] The Alpha Quadrant

The Alpha Quadrant is home to the majority of the species comprising the United Federation of Planets as well as the other main governments of the galaxy, such as the Vulcan High Command and the Klingon Empire (although the largest portion of the Klingon Empire is in the Beta Quadrant). It is the most densely populated quadrant in the galaxy and the majority of political and economic influence has originated or taken seat there.

Notable planets include Earth, the Human homeworld, Qo'noS, the Kligon homeworld, Vulcan, the Vulcan Homeworld, and Vasuda Prime, the Vasudan homeworld.

The Alpha Quadrant houses the J’T’P’Tan-Sevran Wormhole, which provides a safe passage outside the galaxy.

[edit] The Beta Quadrant

The Beta Quadrant has almost as many distinct species and governments as the Alpha Quadrant does, but has not seen the unification that the Federation has provided to the people of the Alpha Quadrant. The area is mainly dominated by the Romulan Empire and the Klingon Empire, and the Federation also occupies territory in the region.

Notable planets include Romulus, the Romulan homeworld, Deneb, Cybertron, homeworld of the Transformers, as well as the Koprulu sector, where the Protoss originate from.

[edit] The Gamma Quadrant

The Gamma Quadrant is the most unexplored quadrant in the galaxy, mainly due to the Universal Alliance's reluctance to deal with the Dominion, the only dominant government in the quadrant. Following the Dominion War, Federation policy (later adopted by the Alliance) dictated that no government business was to take place in the Quadrant, in respect for the terms outlined in the Treaty of Bajor. While the travel in and out of the region is not outlawed by either the Alliance or the Dominion, it seems limited to commercial travel, and both sides share an uneasy peace of mutual respect and sovereignty. Following the Imperial Wars talks began with the Dominion in hopes of them joining the Alliance and opening the region to more Alliance traffic.

[edit] The Delta Quadrant

The Delta Quadrant is also highly unexplored due to the distance between the quadrant and the Alpha Quadrant. While there have been many expeditions to the region, the majority of it has been discovered to be rather barren, with few Class M planets. There is also a large section of space without stars at all, known as The Void. There are few interplanetary governments in the region due to the assimilation campaign of the Borg, who originate from the region, as well as the sacristy of livable planets.

[edit] Other Locations Of Note

The Milky Way's disc is surrounded by a massive barrier of unknown origin, which prevents most travel into and out of the galaxy. The core is also surrounded by a similar force field called the Great Barrier, which is very difficult to penetrate.