The Rigel system was an inhabited planetary system in the Beta Quadrant.
In the mid-23rd century, the Rigel system was part of the most densely populated section of the Milky Way Galaxy. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine") The species living in the system include the Rigelians of Rigel V, (TOS: "Journey to Babel") the similarly-named Rigellians, (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) the Kalar of Rigel VII, (TOS: "The Cage") and the Hill People of Rigel IV. (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold") By the mid-23rd century, there were also Humans living in the Rigel system. (TOS: "Mudd's Women", "Shore Leave") The Rigellian hypnoid and Rigellian ox were animal species native to the Rigel system. (TAS: "Mudd's Passion"; TNG: "The Schizoid Man") Ratana trees were also from this system. (DS9: "Rejoined")
The Barros Inn was known to be one of the wildest bars in the system. (DS9: "Rejoined") Rigelian chocolates and the Rigelian flamegem were other items that originated from this system, as were the diseases Rigelian fever and Rigelian Kassaba fever. (TOS: "By Any Other Name", "Requiem for Methuselah"; ENT: "Twilight"; DS9: "Chimera") "Moon over Rigel VII" was a song with fairly simple lyrics, inspired by a natural satellite of Rigel VII. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
The substance selgninaem was processed in this system for use as a catalyst in industrial biochemical substances. (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits", okudagram)
Components
Stellar system
This was a single star system. The primary star Rigel was an A-type dwarf. (ENT: "Cold Front")
Planetary system
In this system, there were at least twelve planets and an asteroid belt. Eight of these planets were inhabited, with at least three planets – Rigel VII, Rigel X and Rigel XII – in the habitable zone of this system. Other planets in this system were Rigel II, Rigel III, Rigel V, and Rigel VI. (TOS: "Mudd's Women", "Shore Leave", "The Doomsday Machine", "Wolf in the Fold", "Journey to Babel"; TNG: "Hollow Pursuits", "All Good Things..."; ST: "The Trouble with Edward")
History
The Rigel system formed over 5 billion years ago. (SNW: "Among the Lotus Eaters")
By the mid-22nd century, this system had been charted and explored by several species including the Klingons and the Vulcans. Both races knew it as Rigel. In 2151, the system became known to Humans as well, when Captain Jonathan Archer used Vulcan star charts to plot a course there. The Rigel system was the first star system visited by Enterprise NX-01, the first Earth starship with the warp 5 engine, after it departed from the Sol system. The Rigel colony on Rigel X was a popular trade complex at the time, visited by numerous species. (ENT: "Broken Bow")
By the mid-2150s, Rigelians from Rigel V were visiting Earth. (ENT: "Home", "Affliction") In early 2155, the Rigelians participated in talks discussing their wish to join as a possible member in the Coalition of Planets along with Humans, Tellarites, Andorians, Coridanites, Denobulans, and Vulcans. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime")
In 2254, a landing party from the USS Enterprise was attacked by the native Kalar warriors on Rigel VII. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II") By the 24th century, the Kalar castles of Rigel VII had become tourist attractions. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
In 2266, several women on Rigel IV were murdered by Redjac. (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold") During the same year, Harcourt Mudd, using the illegal Venus drug, attempted to sell Eve McHuron, Ruth Bonaventure, and Magda Kovacs to lithium miners on Rigel XII. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")
Sometime before 2267, Leonard McCoy visited Rigel II where he met two female cabaret dancers. (TOS: "Shore Leave")
In 2267, the Rigel system had a population in the millions. This system was threatened by the planet killer until the combined efforts of the starships USS Constellation and USS Enterprise destroyed the extragalactic doomsday weapon. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine")
In 2327, Ensign Jean-Luc Picard had two dates on Starbase Earhart with Penny Muroc, who was from the Rigel system. (TNG: "Tapestry")
In the 2360s, Starfleet Academy cadets of the Nova Squadron won the Rigel Cup, a competition in which fighter pilots competed for piloting excellence. (TNG: "The First Duty")
During the Dominion War, the Federation maintained a pergium refinery on Rigel IV. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")
In an alternate future, Geordi La Forge lived with his wife and children on Rigel III. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
Stellar cartography
The system was located less than ninety light years from the Sol system. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Two Days and Two Nights")
In the 2150s, this system's position was labeled on an United Earth star chart which was displayed in several crew and guest quarters aboard the Enterprise. (Star Trek: Enterprise, set decoration)
In the 2250s, the Rigel system was several weeks away from the Vega colony at the maximum cruising speed of a Constitution-class heavy cruiser. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I")
In 2293, the location of Rigel in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled in a star chart that was in Captain James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, okudagram)
In 2365, the location of Rigel was labeled in a Subspace Comm Net Ops star chart, which was seen in the courtroom on Starbase 173. Subspace lines connected this system to Beta Niobe, Lactra VII, and an unnamed location. (TNG: "The Measure Of A Man")
In 2367, the location of Rigel was labeled on a tactical situation monitor in Captain Benjamin Maxwell's ready room on the USS Phoenix. (TNG: "The Wounded", okudagram)
In 2376, the location of Rigel was labeled on a star chart in astrometrics on USS Voyager in 2376. (VOY: "Child's Play", okudagram)
In 2366, in an alternate timeline, during the Federation-Klingon War, the location of Rigel was labeled on a tactical situation monitor in the ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", okudagram)
| Rigel system |
|---|
| Rigel |
| Rigel II • Rigel III • Rigel IV • Rigel V • Rigel VI • Rigel VII • Rigel X • Rigel XII • An asteroid belt |
| See also: • Beta Rigel • Rigel Beta |
Appendices
Background information
StarTrek.com located Rigel in the Alpha Quadrant. [1](X)
The star chart seen in the series Star Trek: Enterprise made its first appearance in Crewman Daniels quarters in "Cold Front". It was also seen in several other episodes of the series, from 2151 to 2154. (For more information, see Federation star charts#United Earth Alpha/Beta star chart)
In the script for TNG: "All Good Things...", Rigel was listed in the pronunciation guider, where the term was pronounced as "RYE-jell". '
In "Two Days and Two Nights", the NX-class Enterprise set a milestone several months after its mission to Rigel X by becoming the first Earth ship to travel ninety light years away from the Sol system.
In the real world, the star Rigel, or Beta Orionis, was a star located approximately 773 light years from the Earth in the constellation Orion. This constellation was seen on screen in TNG: "Family" and on a constellation star chart in the TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver".
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Starbase 134 was a starbase located on Rigel VI in the Rigel system. It was home to one of Starfleet's many ASDB Integration Facilities and was a major production base for building Miranda-class starships and Type 15 shuttlepods.
In the Star Trek: Star Charts (pp. 36, 45, 59, "United Federation of Planets II") and 'Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), there were two systems named Rigel and both were located in the Beta Quadrant. These were Beta Rigel and Beta Orionis.
- Beta Rigel was a star named by Earth astronomers for its perceived proximity to Beta Orionis. Beta Rigel was a spectral type A5V star with an absolute magnitude of 6.2. The Beta Rigel System was located relatively close to the Sol system and was explored in the mid-22nd century. Of the ten planets in this system, four of them were classified as M class. In the mid-22nd century, the Beta Rigel system was a destination on the Vulcan space lanes. In 2151, the Enterprise visited this system on its maiden voyage. The system, in 2378, was a destination on the major space lanes, and the system's inhabited planets were Federation members. A similarly named Rigel Beta ultimately made its way into canon in Star Trek Into Darkness.
- Beta Orionis, also known as Rigel, was a binary star system. Rigel A was a B class star with a magnitude of -7. Rigel B was a B class star. Beta Orionis was located 773 light years from the Sol system, in non-aligned space in the Beta Quadrant.
The current location of Rigel system in the Beta Quadrant was based on the most recent star charts seen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Section 31.
Apocrypha
In the reference work The Worlds of the Federation (p. 36), the Rigel system and the Orion system were one and the same, Rigel VIII being the homeworld of the Orion species. In the same book, it was stated that Rigel II and Rigel IV were colonized by Humans. In theStar Trek Maps ("Chart D"), the Rigel system was located around the real star Beta Orionis. The chart also referenced Rigel VIII as the planet Orion.
In the Last Unicorn Games and Decipher role-playing games, the Rigellians were known as "Chelarians" and they were from Rigel III.
External links
- Rigel at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Rigel at Wikipedia
- Rigel at the Internet Stellar Database