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Aldebaran, also known as Alpha Tauri or 87 Tauri, was a planetary system in the Beta Quadrant. This first magnitude star was one of the brightest stars in Earth's night sky. (DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

Components

Stellar system

This was a binary star system consisting of the K-type red giant Aldebaran (the proper name for Alpha Tauri A) and the red dwarf Alpha Tauri B.

Planetary system

The system had at least three planets, including Aldebaran and Aldebaran III. There was at least one of these planets which was located in the system's habitable zone which supported a variety of lifeforms. The Aldebaran mud leechs, Aldebaran serpents, and Aldebaran shellmouths were native to this system. (TOS: "Amok Time", "The Deadly Years"; TNG: "Hide And Q"; ENT: "Anomaly (ENT)") (TOS: "The Deadly Years"}

History

on a diplomatic mission to Aldebaran

HMS New Zealand on a diplomatic mission to Aldebaran

In 2135, the HMS New Zealand was launched from Earth on a diplomatic mission to this system. It was listed on the chart Interstellar Expeditions to Sectors 184/02-185/38: Launched From Sol System, Earth Dates 2123-2190, which was seen on a screen in Jean-Luc Picard's ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG-R: "Up The Long Ladder", okudagram) The system was inhabited by Humans by the 23rd century.

In the 23rd century, a Federation outpost was established on Aldebaran III. (TOS: "The Deadly Years")

In 2257, during the first Federation-Klingon War, this star system was occupied by the Klingons. (DIS: "The War Without, The War Within")

During the 2260s, Janet and Theodore Wallace performed experiments using various carbohydrate compounds to slow down the degeneration of plant life at a Federation outpost on Aldebaran III. (TOS: "The Deadly Years")

In 2345, Michael O'Brien sent a recorded audition of his son Miles O'Brien playing the cello to the Aldebaran Music Academy. (DS9: "Shadowplay")

When the Venari Ral laid Omega-47 mines around the core of Federation space in 3196, this system was within the enclosed region. (SA: "300th Night", "Rubincon")

Products

Aldebaran whiskey and Aldebaran drum sets were products made in this system. (ENT: "Zero Hour"; TNG: "Relics")

See also

Stellar cartography

The Aldebaran system was visible from Earth in the constellation Taurus. It was approximately 67 light years from Sol.

This system was near the Ficus sector. (TNG-R: "Up The Long Ladder", okudagram)

In 2256, the location of Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) was labeled on the star chart "Alpha/Beta Quadrant Overview" in the ready room aboard the USS Discovery. (DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

In 2259, the location of this system was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the USS Enterprise's ready room viewscreen. This system's symbol had a blue color, indicating that it was affiliated with the United Federation of Planets. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds", "Children of the Comet", "Spock Amok")

In 2293, the location of Aldebaran in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled on the star chart The Explored Galaxy, which was seen in James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, okudagram)

On stardate 1292.4, the location of Aldebaran was labeled in a chart used during a Section 31 Alpha Team briefing. (Star Trek: Section 31)

In 2365, the location of Aldebaran was labeled in a Subspace Comm Net Ops star chart, which was seen in the courtroom on Starbase 173. This system was connected to Daran V and an unnamed location by subspace lines. (TNG: "The Measure Of A Man")

The system's location was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy's office at Starfleet Headquarters in 2399 and on the bridge of the USS Titan-A in 2401. The Aldebaran system was in or near to Federation space. (PIC: "Maps and Legends", "The Next Generation", "Disengage")

In 3189, the location of Aldebaran was denoted on a holographic star chart of the galaxy at Federation Headquarters. (DIS: "Scavengers")

In 3196, this system's position was labeled on a Federation star chart which was displayed on the main viewscreen of the USS Athena bridge. Systems affiliated with the Federation, including this one, had blue labels. (SA: "Ko'Zeine")

Later that year, during the Omega-47 crisis, the location of Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) was depicted on star charts and readouts used across several locations on the USS Athena to locate, monitor, and respond to the Omega-47 mines laid by the Venari Ral. (SA: "Rubincon")

Appendices

Background information

Information on this system was derived from the episodes, from the reference works Star Trek: Star Charts and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library, and from real world sources. The reference works were used extensively in the creation of star charts seen in Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The real-world information added to the article was current as of 2026.

The name of this star was mentioned at StarTrek.com, where it was identified as a spectral type K5 star and as one of the brightest stars in Earth's night sky. [1](X)

For the remastered episode "Up The Long Ladder", Aldebaran replaced Alderaan.

A scene from the script of TNG: "The Dauphin" would have had the Enterprise scheduled to visit a place called Aldebaran Zeta.

In the first draft script of ENT: "Strange New World", Travis Mayweather told a ghost story about a brain-sucking carnivore on a planet in the "Aldeberan system", though T'Pol refuted the tale, saying there were no such lifeforms in that system. During the episode's development, this ghost story instead became one about George Webb.

In August 2024, an annotated computer paste-up of the star chart from "The Measure Of A Man" was put up for auction in the Entertainment Memorabiliia Live Auction: Los Angeles Summer 2024 by Propstore Auction. [2]

The current location of Aldebaran in the Beta Quadrant was based on the most recent star charts seen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Section 31.

External links