Neptune

For other uses, see Neptune.

Neptune (Sol VIII) is a planet in the Sol star system.

History and specifics[]

The planet is the eighth planet from the sun, and is a gas giant. (ST reference: Star Charts)

In the year 2065, the UNSS Amity rescued a disabled Vulcan ship discovered near Neptune, marking official first contact between Humans and Vulcans. (TOS novel: Strangers from the Sky)

This data point was invalidated canonically by the events of TNG movie: Star Trek: First Contact.

Background[]

Neptune had four rings. The planet’s magnetosphere and axis of rotation were misaligned, producing complex electromagnetic distortions. The 18,000 km thick atmosphere was made of nitrogen, water and ice, with a high surface pressure and a temperature of -200 degrees Celsius. (TOS novel: Academy: Collision Course)

Neptune’s largest moon was Triton. The second moon (by distance from Neptune) was Nereid, which housed a Federation research facility in the 23rd century. (TOS - Section 31 novel: Cloak)

Federation starships that were called USS Neptune were either named for this world, or for the mythological figure the planet was named after.

History[]

In 2063, the Vulcan scout ship T'Plana-Hath was near Neptune when it detected Zefram Cochrane’s warp flight. (TOS short story: "The Immortality Blues")

In 2078, Zefram Cochrane contended to Adrik Thorsen that a warp bomb was impossible, because the sun’s gravity triggered wormholes if continuum-distortion fields were formed too closely together. The distortion field’s maximum potential length was about 100 meters out by Neptune. He had done warp research past Neptune on John Cabal, an old ice freighter refitted as a microgravity lab. (TOS novel: Federation)

In 2151, as they were admiring the new Enterprise (NX-01) in a shuttlepod, Charles Tucker III said she could travel warp 4.5, to which Captain Jonathan Archer replied "Neptune and back in six minutes!" (ENT episode & novelization: Broken Bow)

In 2156, Commodore Archer assembled a fleet at Neptune, including Enterprise and twelve Daedalus-class ships, far enough out to avoid civilian notice. From there he launched the United Earth's largest solo military action to date, a successful bid to retake Berengaria VII from the Romulan Empire. SS Intrepid had joined the group en route to avoid the 13 jinx. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

Two ships burned up in the atmosphere of Neptune early in the 23rd century. (TOS novel: Academy: Collision Course)

In 2249, under the guise of an early cadet training cruise, James T. Kirk, Spock, and other trainees felt it necessary to board the USS Enterprise and take her out of Earth Spacedock. They were pursuing Abel Griffyn, who fled to Neptune in the Random Wave. Kirk ordered them to surrender, but Random Wave responded with evasive maneuvers, phaser shots to the primary sensor array, and a ramming maneuver that careened both ships out of orbit toward the planet. Three Orion corsairs appeared out from under cloud cover to take Random Wave's cargo. Luckily, ten starships including the USS Potemkin had hidden behind the planet’s moons and rings, and took charge. (TOS novel: Academy: Collision Course)

There was an early Neptune colony. Kirk recalled that a poet from that colony once described Cestus XIV as "a planet drunk with springtime." (TOS novel: The Cry of the Onlies)

In 2380, when a Borg cube approached Pluto, Fleet Commander Galloway regrouped Starfleet defenses in orbit of Neptune. They watched as the cube absorbed the dwarf planet and its moons. (TNG novel: Before Dishonor)

Apocrypha[]

The RPG The Dominion War Sourcebook: The Fires of Armageddon, published by Last Unicorn Games after they had lost their Star Trek licence, stated that prior to the Breen assault on Earth in late-2375, the Breen fleet attacked the outer defense perimeter of the Starfleet 3rd Fleet over Neptune.

Appendices[]

Connections[]

Sol system
orbital landmarks (planets, planetoids, moons & asteroids)	Sol (primary) • I. Mercury • II. Venus • III. Earth (Luna) • IV. Mars (Phobos • Deimos) • Sol asteroid belt (Ceres • Pallas • Juno • Vesta) • V. Jupiter (Callisto • Europa • Ganymede • Io • Amalthea) • VI. Saturn (Enceladus • Mimas • Phoebe • Rhea • Tethys • Titan) • VII. Uranus (Ariel • Umbriel • Titania • Miranda) • VIII. Neptune (Nereid • Triton) • Pluto (Charon • Nix • Hydra Elysium) • Kuiper Belt (Eris • Dysnomia • Proserpine • Makemake • Haumea • Varuna) • Oort cloud
space stations	Khepera Chromospheric Solar Observatory • Aphrodite Terraforming Station • Ishtar Station • Sol II shipyard (Venus) • Spacedock 1 • San Francisco Fleet Yards (Construction support station 173 • orbital office complex) • McKinley Station • Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards • Jupiter Station • Sol V shipyard (Europa) • Saturn drydock • Saturn Station 1 • Sol VI shipyard (Titan) • Pluto Station • Starbase 1 • Defense Outpost 1426 • Defense Outpost 1427 • Defense Outpost 1428
outposts	Vostok Academy • Venusian Campus • Phobos Campus • Jupiter Colony V • Jupiter Outposts (Jupiter Outpost 92 • Ganymede Station) • Mimas Station • Titan Outpost • Project Pluto Research Station • Starfleet Archives Annex • Eridian Vault
Kelvin timeline	Starbase 1 (Kelvin timeline) • Io Facility • Starbase Zeta
Mirror Universe	Terran Space Defense Fortress • Terran Control • Jupiter Station • Neptune Station