Interstellar Phenomena

In addition to galactic-scale phenomena such as the spiral arms & the core, many dangers and scientific opportunities appear in the vast empty spaces among the stars. In general, such phenomena occur most commonly in regions of denser star populations, but exploratory vessels have found enough exceptions to this rule to fill a library computer complex. The universe remains a wondrous place, and the "laws of astrophysics" 20th-century humanity postulated without ever leaving their planet proved mutable indeed.

This section describes these phenomena, as far as Starfleet understands them, and gives some indications about their distribution and frequency. Their effects on passing (or investigating) ships are included here. If not, see chapter 13 ("Hazards") of the Decipher book, Star Trek Roleplaying Game, v2: Narrator's Guide (NG).

Black Hole

File:Blackhole.jpg

As they age, stars that mass more than 20 times Sol can collapse past the neutron star stage and become a black hole (also known as a 'singularity' or 'black star'). Black holes generate gravity one hundred billion times that of Earth - so strong that even light cannot escape them. The radiation, dust and gas attracted by a black hole forms an accretion disk around the hole, and as they fall into the hole, powerful gravity waves and X-rays radiate out from the hole. These emissions can endanger nearby objects, including starships and even entire worlds.

Moving into a black hole's gravity field causes immense gravimetric shear damage (see NG, p. 231) and presents a risk of time dilation, or time compression. Flying at the wrong tangent into the black hole's gravity field can result in relativistic one-way trip up to a billion years into the future - or if the black hole is spinning, into the past. Starfleet archaeologists occasionally detect frighteningly ancient relics spinning in orbits around black holes, preserved by this time-dilation effect. Some mathematical theories predict that the precise center of a black hole is a 'white hole' into another universe; this other universe may be the home dimension of the life-form encountered by USS Enterprise (1701-D) in 2369 that uses quantum singularities as nests for its young. The Romulans power some of their ships, including the feared D'deridex-class warbird, with minute black holes known as artificial quantum singularities; thanks to the elaborate and multiple redundant safety interlocks built into these drives, very few have accidentally created true black holes, even when the ships were destroyed by energy sources like phasers.

Black holes, while not common, are well enough understood that their presence and their dangers should be no surprise to any navigator. It is clear: once the event horizon is crossed, the ship is forever irretrievable. Instead, RPG events may come about from a black hole being studied: the ship looses power (or the station looses station keeping and must be rescued/repaired), a ship is lost to the horizon and the opportunity is taken to study it (time slows down immensely for the observed), a ship is thrown through time, a trapped ship from elsewhere in time 'pops' into view suddenly, within the horizon, etc.).

Cosmic String

Resembling a black hole that is one proton in diameter in width but several light-years long, cosmic strings (also called superstrings) pose significant dangers to starships. Although they emit energy on characteristic subspace frequencies, cosmic strings can catch space vessels within their gravitational pull before a ship detects them. Once trapped, a ship may find itself unable to break free before actual contact with the string slices it apart.

The exact nature and formation of cosmic strings remains a mystery. Some scientists speculate that ancient civilizations used them as construction tools to build Dyson spheres and re-arrange solar systems, or as weapons (since a string could easily cut through ships, planets and even stars). Others believe that cosmic strings constitute the majority of the galaxy's dark matter.

When a cosmic string is rolled, it will be detected as a gravimetric oddity, exhibiting extremes of gravitational forces: when first detected from any of 358 degrees of approach, it will provide a mass similar to that of a terrestrial planet, but when detected from a very narrow slice of 2 degrees (each 180 degrees apart), it will be sensed as a massive object, on par with that of a black hole. Therefore, when a ship approaches the invisible object, it will most likely sense a smaller stellar body that is not visually detected, but in it comes in from the wrong angle, the ship will be irreversibly drawn in, too sudden to take any action. Due to the sheer lack of experience with this type of phenomenon and the unlikelihood the object will be properly identified from a safe enough distance, it is considered an Extreme event. Any damage endured and survived will be the result of evasive actions taken just prior to crossing over either event horizon. Once identified, the cosmic string should be properly charted and marked as an extreme navigation hazard. They can extend for 1d10 lightyears.

Lost Planet

Although ships rarely encounter planets in interstellar space, such lost planets (also known as rogue planets) do occasionally occur. They are usually wrenched from their home star system by some cosmic catastrophe, such as a passing black hole or a supernova explosion, or they are constructed planets such as Yonada or Gothos, sent on their mysterious journy by a builder race or some immensely powerful being. Depending on the builders' technological capacity, such a world might support life in its hollow interior, or somehow maintain an atmosphere and energy source in deep space. Without such support, a terrestrial planet knocked away from a star will rapidly become Class D, though - with sufficient tectonic activity or other support - may simply transition to either P or even L classes. A large enough Class J world, or those of Classes S & T, just might be able to generate enough heat internally to support life on a Class M moon around it, a truly amazing chance that would divert any passing ship with an ounce of scientific curiosity.

In the RPG, these rare planets may be encountered by long-range gravimetric scans. As indicated, they are usually moonless gas giants or rocky planets. It is the rare exception indeed to find one that would still be considered terrestrial. Roll on the Blue zone to determine what class of world might have been encountered.

Nebula

Clouds of interstellar gas and dust, nebulae range in size from relatively small planetary nebulae (usually under one cubic light-year, blown out by a super-nova) to immense interstellar nebulae stretching across whole sectors. Some interstellar nebulae first begin as planetary nebulae; others are protostars, or even entire stellar nurseries, that failed to form. In general, planetary nebulae are thicker and more energetic than interstellar nebulae.

Starfleet assigns nebulae alphabetic classes: Class J nebulae are high in dark matter and ionized gas, Class T nebulae emit high levels of radiation, the Class C "Mutara class" blanks all visual and tactical sensors and interferes with shields. Starfleet's science teams also use numerical nebulae classes running from 1 to 17. These numbers do not correspond directly with the nebula's energy level or thickness, as these vary in individual nebulae and over time, but with their basic structure and composition. In many Class 11 and 17 nebulae, phaser fire (or directed positron beams) can ignite active gases such as sirillium with effects similar to a small, localized plasma storm.

In such particularly thick or energetic nebulae, combat can become tense and deadly, even reduced to a duel of naked-eye torpedo targeting and sheer piloting instinct. Malfunctioning weapons systems (or the strange effects of nebula radiation on the ship's personnel) may force the crew to improvise tactics, replacement equipment or both. A crew will need both skill and luck to survive such an encounter.