Epsilon Eridani
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
Epsilon Eridani (or 18 Eridani) was a spectral class K2V star located about 10.5 light years from Sol in the constellation of Eridanus.
On several occasions in 2364, viewscreen readouts aboard the USS Enterprise-D showed the location of Epsilon Eridani, in the form of charts from the Enterprise-D library computer. (TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy")
[edit] Background
- The Enterprise computer's star chart was a drawing by Rick Sternbach that had originally been published, years earlier, on page 77 of the non-canon reference book Spaceflight Chronology. This chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began. Epsilon Eridani was a destination on a major commercial route, as it was the Vulcan system according to the book. This would not be consistent with the distance to Vulcan being approximately 16 light years from Earth as was stated in ENT: "Daedalus".
- The non-canon Star Trek: Star Charts claim Epsilon Eridani to be the primary star of Axanar.
- Epsilon Eridani is currently the closest star system to the Sun known to possess an extrasolar planet, 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter, which orbits its star every 6.9 years. A second planet may exist at roughly Pluto's distance. [1]
