Wolf 359 was the primary star of the Wolf system. This system, located approximately eight light years from Sol, was in the Alpha Quadrant, making it one of the closest stars to Earth.
Wolf 359's location was frequently marked on Federation star charts. (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery)
Battle of Wolf 359[]
Several destroyed starships at Wolf 359
- Main article: Battle of Wolf 359
The Wolf system was the site of the first large-scale engagement between Starfleet and the Borg. In early 2367, a fleet of at least forty ships, under the command of Admiral J.P. Hanson, moved to intercept a Borg cube, en route to Earth, at Wolf 359. The Federation fleet made their stand there and engaged the cube represented by Locutus in the Battle of Wolf 359. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds") Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D had been assimilated by the Borg, and as Locutus, unwillingly provided them with a decisive advantage through his knowledge of Starfleet technology and tactics. This led to the Federation fleet, tasked with preventing the advance of the Borg to Earth, being quickly overwhelmed and utterly destroyed. Thirty-nine Federation starships were massacred, resulting in approximately eleven thousand deaths or assimilations. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", "The Drumhead", DS9: "Emissary", VOY: "Unity", "Infinite Regress", "Unimatrix Zero", PIC: "No Win Scenario")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
The location of Wolf 359 was depicted in the chart naming stars within twenty light years of Sol. The chart was drawn by Rick Sternbach for the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology in the late 1970s. Found on page 77, this chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 3rd ed., p. 582, this star was "located 7.8 light years away in the constellation Leo" and was "the fourth-closest star to Earth."
According to StarTrek.com, Wolf 359 was 7.6 light years (2.35 parsecs) from Sol. [1](X)
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 62) and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), Wolf 359 was a M-class star.
Apocrypha[]
David Gerrold's novel The Galactic Whirlpool mentioned Wolf 359 as the next most likely destination undergone by a colony of Humans who left Earth decades before the 22nd century.
Comics of the DC TNG volume 2 series mention Wolf 359 was maintained as a wreckyard of the doomed ships, as depicted in the stories "The Worst of Both Worlds, Part I!" and again in "And Death Shall Have No Dominion". Star Trek Online also depicted such a memorial.
External links[]
- Wolf 359 at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Wolf 359 at Wikipedia
- Wolf 359 at the Internet Stellar Database
- Wolf 359 at SolStation.com
- Wolf 359 at Simbad Astronomical Database