M24 Alpha was a star system, in the Alpha or the Beta Quadrant. It lay in an otherwise unpopulated sector, 11.630 light-years from Gamma II. (TOS episode & Star Trek 12 novelization: The Gamesters of Triskelion, Decipher RPG module: Worlds)
- Star Trek Maps implies that the whole star system is named "M24" while only the primary star is named "M24 Alpha". Worlds mistakenly says N24. "The Gamesters of Triskelion" gives the actual name.
History and specifics[]
It was a system. The primary was a moderate-sized yellow star, the secondary was another yellow star, and the tertiary was a white dwarf. They orbited a common center of gravity, in a stable trojan relationship. This was a highly unusual stellar configuration, one which enabled the system to support planets, and M24 Alpha was one of only two such systems ever charted by the Federation. The system had a brightness of absolute magnitude +1. (ST reference: The Worlds of the Federation)
A star chart of the system denoted its second and third stars as red. (ST reference: Star Trek Maps)
The system was home to a three planets: two orbited the primary star and a third around the secondary star. The second of the primary, M24 Alpha II, was a Class M planet named Triskelion, which was home to the Providers and their thralls. The planet orbiting the secondary was also Class M .(ST references: Star Trek Maps, The Worlds of the Federation) By known astrophysics, it was highly unlikely that a Class M planet could have developed in a trinary system like M24 Alpha, prompting theories that the Providers moved the planet into its present orbit by their technology or their mental power. (Decipher RPG module: Worlds)
- Worlds makes Triskelion the only planet in the system.
