For other uses, see Delta Vega.

Delta Vega^[4][6], known in the Vulcan language as Tel-Alep^[1] or Tel-alep^[2], was a planet^[6][5][4][6] or planetoid^[7] in the 40 Eridani star system, the fourth major body^[6][5][1] in orbit of the star 40 Eridani A in the galaxy's Beta Quadrant.

It was also referred to as Vulcan/Vulcanis A IV^[3], Nevasa IV, Ko'vel IV, Keid IV, Omicron-2 Eridani/Omicron-2 Eridani A IV or 40 Eridani/40 Eridani A IV.

History and specifics[]

Astrometrics[]

Delta Vega was variously classified either as the fourth planet orbiting 40 Eridani A or as a large planetoid located beyond the orbit of the tidally locked worlds Vulcan and T'Khut. (ST video game: Infinite; ST reference: Stellar Cartography)

It was located between 1 and 2 AUs from the central star. (ST reference: Spaceflight Chronology)

The planet was located at the edge of the system's habitable zone. (Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook)

Its orbit around its star 40 Eridani A brought it close enough to the planet Vulcan that the Vulcan homeworld could be seen from the surface of Delta Vega. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek; Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook)

Environment[]

Given its harsh environment that nonetheless was capable of supporting life, it was variously classified as a class M planet, a class G geocrystalline planet or a class K silicate planet. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek; ST video game: Infinite; Last Unicorn RPG modules: The Way of Kolinahr, Planets of the UFP)

The planet was tectonically unstable. (Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook)

Delta Vega featured an icy terrain, and was home to at least two native predatory species: the hengrauggi and the drakoulias. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek; TOS comic: "Nero, Number Four")

History[]

It was named after the Vulcan deity Tel-alep. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Way of Kolinahr)

The planet was never colonized by Vulcans because of its inhospitable environment and dangerous local fauna. (Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook)

Kelvin timeline[]

It was the location of a largely automated Starfleet outpost. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek; TOS comic: "Nero, Number Four")

In the Kelvin timeline, by 2258, the Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega was manned by Starfleet officers Keenser and Montgomery Scott. Scott considered his stationing at the outpost a punishment for an experiment with transwarp beaming that resulted in the loss of Admiral Archer's prize beagle. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek)

In that year, the Romulan Nero selected Delta Vega to maroon Ambassador Spock knowing he would be able to see Vulcan from the surface of the planet and be forced to helplessly witness the destruction of his homeworld by a red matter-induced singularity - Nero's revenge for the destruction of Romulus which he blamed on Spock. The communication facilities at the Starfleet outpost only provided intermittent contact with the Federation, and were subsequently inadequate for Spock to warn Vulcan of Nero's coming attack. After witnessing Vulcan's destruction Spock sustained himself with supplies from the Starfleet outpost, but otherwise lived apart from the facility so not to further contaminate the timeline. While alone on the planet Spock maintained control over his emotions using Sarek's dilemma, a puzzle given to him by his father. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek; TOS comics: "Nero, Number Four", "When Worlds Collide: Spock Confronts the Ultimate Challenge")

A short time after Vulcan's destruction James T. Kirk was also stranded on Delta Vega when Acting Captain Spock put him off of the USS Enterprise in an survival pod after concluding Kirk's continued presence on the ship would be disruptive. Despite his pod's indication that Delta Vega was dangerous, and that he would be retrieved in due course, Kirk exited the pod and began to make his way to the outpost.

While trekking across the Vegan landscape Kirk recorded a log on his tricorder explaining his situation when he encountered a drakoulias; with no weaponry available Kirk had little choice but to run for it, until the chasing animal was attacked by an even larger hengrauggi - which also chased Kirk. The hengrauggi chased Kirk into a cave, and was almost able to consume him. Fortunately for Kirk, Spock was there, and armed with fire; which scared the large animal away.

Spock and Kirk shared their stories and decided to make their way to the outpost to try and do something to stop Nero. At the outpost Spock used his knowledge from the future to help Scott make adjustments to the transporter to perform a transwarp beam to the Enterprise. Keenser and Spock were left on the planet until after the Enterprise successfully defeated Nero, when they were retrieved. (TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek)

Around stardate 1424.26 the outpost on the planet became infested with hengrauggi and the drakoulias; trapping Keenser inside the base. Starfleet special agent Erin Esurance was dispatched to rescue him, a mission she successfully accomplished. (TOS video game: Delta Vega: Meltdown on the Ice Planet)

Appendices[]

Connections[]

Sirius sector block
Orion sector	Kinjer system (Kinjer Prime) • Lackey system (Lackey III) • Reytan system (Reytan) • Starbase 24 (Starbase 24's system) • Una system (Una II)
	Orion trinary system	Stars: Pi-3 Orionis trinary star (Orion A, Orion B, Orion C)
		Planets and moons: I. Orion I • II. Orion II (prison moon of Orion II) • III.: Orion III/Orion Prime (Luna Orionis) • Hoan • Thaspa
Risa sector	Bomari system (Bomari II) • Donia system (Donia) • Gamma Orionis transwarp conduit • Imaga system (Imaga • Imaga II) • Koolhaas system (Koolhaas Prime) • Omar system (Omar Prime) • Tazi system (Tazi Prime)
	Risa system	Stars and outposts: Epsilon Ceti A • Epsilon Ceti B (Granicus binary) • Epsilon Ceti C • Epsilon Ceti Outpost
		Planets: Epsilon Ceti B I (Suam) • B II.: Risa (Inobe) • Lowoion • Rusanej
Vulcan sector	Beytan system (Beytan V) • Bhea system (Bhea) • Delta Volanis Cluster • P'Jem system (P'Jem) • Pico system (Pico) • Wolf 359 system (Wolf 359 VI)
	Vulcan system	Stars: 40 Eridani A • 40 Eridani B • 40 Eridani C
		Planets and moons: I. Ket-Cheleb • II & III.: Vulcan • T'Khut (T'Rukhemai) • IV. Delta Vega • V. Kal-Apton • VI. Kir Alep • Vulcanis VII • Kerkhov (Kerkhovian moon)

Location[]

The planet's location is not entirely clear in TOS movie: Star Trek where it first appeared, although it is reasonably certain that it is not the same Delta Vega as that in the remote Delta Vega sector near the edge of the galaxy. "Nero, Number Four" establishes that it orbits a sun in such a way that Vulcan is visible from the surface. The film's novelization also establishes that Delta Vega is distinct from Vulcan's sister planet T'Khul.

The novelization of the film also strongly implies the planet is beyond the Vulcan system; somewhere between Vulcan and the Laurentian system, as Kirk notes the Enterprise had departed the Vulcan system to join with the rest of Starfleet, and that he felt it was lucky Spock had bothered to at least drop out of warp to drop him off. In which case Vulcan being visible from the planet is either a result of artistic license, or perhaps some form of technological observation device (Nero's floating holograms for example).

The TOS website: Dossiers describe how during his career as a miner Nero's "discovery of massive lithium deposits on planet Delta Vega helped end Romulus' long-standing energy crisis". It is not clear whether this reference refers to the Delta Vega in the Vulcan system, a core Federation world, or the one in the Delta Vega sector, one of the most distant Federation territories.

ST video game: Infinite and ST video game: Fleet Command portray Delta Vega as the fourth planet in the Vulcan system, following Ket-Cheleb, Vulcan and T'Khut. This fourth world was previously given the Vulcan language name Tel-Alep in Last Unicorn Games' Star Trek Role Playing Game. Meanwhile, ST reference: Stellar Cartography, while agreeing with this orbital placement, calls Delta Vega a planetoid. Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook mentions a second, icy class M planet in the system at the edge of the habitable zone, but doesn't name it.

While the Spaceflight Chronology showed a silhouette of the fourth world in the system, it misattributed the Vulcan system's location as being in the Epsilon Eridani system. Spock's World correctly identified the canonical 40 Eridani location, and mentioned the total number seven planets, making it the first source to infer the existence of this world.

Background[]

Delta Vega was initially conceived as a desert world. There Kirk and Spock would have encountered Scotty not at a Starfleet outpost but at an exotic alien-filled bazaar. (TOS reference: Star Trek: The Art of the Film)

Appearances[]

In publication order

• ST video game: Klingon Academy (as "Vulcan IV")
• TOS video game: Delta Vega: Meltdown on the Ice Planet
• TOS comic: "When Worlds Collide: Spock Confronts the Ultimate Challenge"
• TOS movie & novelization: Star Trek
• TOS comic: "Nero, Number Four"
• ST video game: Fleet Command
• ST video game: Infinite

References[]

External link[]

• Delta Vega (Vulcan system) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.