Great Barrier

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

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The Great Barrier is an immense energy field of unknown properties that surrounds the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. It resembles visually a huge thundercloud of gas and dust.

Some time before 2287 the center of the galaxy became shielded by this barrier. No ship had ever entered the barrier, since no probe sent into it had ever returned. In addition, no sensor readings were available on the composition of the barrier.

The USS Enterprise-A, commandeered by Sybok, became the first ship ever to have breached the barrier. The Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by Captain Klaa was the second. The planet at the center of the galaxy was initially mistaken by many to be the mythical Sha Ka Ree. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

In 2375, the bio-mimetic copy of the USS Voyager intended to cut through the center of the galaxy on its journey to Sector 001 (VOY: "Course: Oblivion")

[edit] Background

In Sybok's delusional mind, he was convinced that the Great Barrier is in fact only an illusion – the ultimate expression of the universal fear of the unknown. It is not clear however if this is the case. Unlike starships, the probes sent inside might simply have not been advanced enough to survive.

The Great Barrier, and the planet within, would seem to have appeared only at most eighteen years prior to 2287. In the episode TAS: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", the USS Enterprise explored the center of the galaxy. At that time the center was discovered to be a point between dimensions surrounded by a matter-energy whirlwind. Presumably the point between dimension had disappeared since no one expected to find it eighteen years later. There also presumably was no Great Barrier back in 2269, since the Enterprise would have had to have crossed it.

The fact that the barrier and center of the galaxy were only some 6.7 hours away from Nimbus III, in the Neutral Zone, at warp 7 is somewhat inconsistent with how fast the warp speeds are established to be later on in Star Trek after Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. To add to the inconsistencies, Kirk gives the coordinates of the ship during this voyage to be 000-mark-2. These are not consistent to what the coordinates are in Star Trek. They would be consistent with what a heading is, as is later on confirmed to be the case by the dialog. According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, however, the heading to the center of the galaxy would be 000-mark-0.

In Star Trek: Star Charts, the great barrier is depicted as a spherical energy field engulfing the whole galactic core and all the stars within. It is also connected with the galactic barrier. The diameter of the Great Barrier is approximately 15,000 light years. The planet encountered in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is not depicted to be at the center of the galaxy. Instead, it is at the outer edges of the energy field, some 7,000 light years away from the center. The point between dimensions encountered in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" is now labeled as a massive black hole called Sagittarius A at the center of the galaxy.

This location for the planet would be inconsistent with the movie. But makes it possible for both accounts of the center of the galaxy to coexist. It would also explain the heading inconsistency. Obviously Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star", as it is called in the real world), a supermassive black hole, is more compatible as the point between dimensions. But all the other descriptions of the phenomenon in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" are not compatible with what a black hole is.

While the Star Trek: Star Charts and Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual are not canon, they are Memory Alpha permitted resources.

[edit] External link

• Great Barrier at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works