Beta Niobe

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Beta Niobe is a star located in or near Federation space, primary of the Beta Niobe system. It occupies the same space as the antimatter universe star, Amphion.

The star began to go supernova in 2269, threatening to destroy its only planet Sarpeidon. (TOS: "All Our Yesterdays")

While en route to planet Babel in 2270, the Enterprise would pass near Beta Niobe to witness the supernova. While monitoring the nova, Spock detected an alien ship racing for the center of the Beta Niobe nova as a velocity of approaching warp 36. After attempting to tractor the ship in effort to prevent it from its apparent suicide course into the nova, the Enterprise was dragged along with it into the center of the nova where it passed through the supernova Amphion on the other side, and entered an antimatter universe. (TAS: "The Counter-Clock Incident")

[edit] Background

Location of Beta Niobe was established on the large star chart graphic created for TNG: "Conspiracy". It was the image behind the chair in the room where Dexter Remmick was killed. It appears to be located only a few sectors away from Earth and Vulcan and it appears to be near Ariannus. This part of the map was not legible on screen.

A more clearer position for Beta Niobe in relation to Earth was given in the episode "The Counter-Clock Incident". A prominently featured starmap display showed it to be approximately the same distance away from the center of the galaxy, but on the exact opposite side, near what would later on be identified as the border of the Delta and Gamma Quadrants. Spock stated in "All Our Yesterdays" the distance between Vulcan and Beta Niobe to be in the millions of light years. An approximation of 50 thousand light years would be closer to the truth, as Vulcan has been established to be only some 16 light years away from Earth.