Asteroid belt

An asteroid belt in the Alpha Omicron system

The Enterprise-D in an asteroid field.

The Delta Flyer in an astreroid field

An asteroid belt or asteroid field is a collection of asteroids, usually orbiting a star in a roughly toroidal shape. Asteroids in such a belt may range from grain sized up to many kilometers in diameter. Asteroid fields contain space debris and are usually the remains of a planet's destruction.

The Sol system contains an asteroid belt that is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Around the late 23rd century, asteroid belts were sometimes assigned a numerical value called the Schiller Rating. In 2266, the Constitution-class starship Enterprise pursued an unregistered J class cargo vessel into an asteroid belt with a Schiller rating of 3.5. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")

Spock advised Kirk of the Schiller rating of the asteroid belt during this pursuit. Since he offered that advise as Kirk was deciding whether to follow the ship into the belt, it is reasonable to assume that the rating is an evaluation of the navigational hazard posed by the belt.

Ty'Gokor is located in an asteroid field deep in the Klingon Empire. The field was protected by a tachyon detection grid. (DS9: "Apocalypse Rising")

During the Federation-Tzenkethi War, the USS Okinawa was attacked by three Tzenkethi raiders who later fled into an asteroid belt. Captain Leyton took the Okinawa in after them, despite Benjamin Sisko's protest. (DS9: "Paradise Lost")

As part of Chakotay's pilot training he spent a semester in the asteroid belt doging asteroids, after completing training above North America in his first year and learning how to handle atmospheric storms at the Venus for a couple of months. (VOY: "Future's End, Part II")

In 2366, the Enterprise-D searched the remains of Orelious IX, which was nothing more than an asteroid field. Within the asteroid field, they discovered an intact 14th century Promellian battle cruiser, but also discovered an ancient booby trap that almost destroyed them. (TNG: "Booby Trap")

In 2367, the Enterprise-D returned the space-dwelling life-form known only as "Junior" to an asteroid field near the Alpha Omicron system. (TNG: "Galaxy's Child")

In 2370, the Enterprise-D entered the asteroid field in the Devolin system, under orders from Starfleet Command and Admiral Erik Pressman, on a salvage mission to recover the remains of the USS Pegasus. (TNG: "The Pegasus"; ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Kira Nerys, Julian Bashir and Keiko O'Brien took the USS Volga into an asteroid field in the Gamma Quadrant in late 2372. They were almost clear when the runabout was hit by a asteroid, destroying a fuel pod. Kira and Bashir recalled the incident several weeks later. (DS9: "Body Parts", "Apocalypse Rising")

The USS Defiant conducted maneuvers in an asteroid belt in the Kar-telos system in 2372. (DS9: "Bar Association")

In 2373, before Martok took command, the IKS Rotarran cornered a Cardassian ship between itself and an asteroid field. However, before they could destroy the Cardassian ship, three Jem'Hadar warships came out of the asteroid field, forcing the Rotarran to withdraw. (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire")

See also

• List of asteroid belts
• Kuiper belt
• Oort cloud