Quadrant In stellar cartography , a quadrant is a major region of space encompassing a portion of a galaxy . Major quadrants . The Milky Way Galaxy was commonly divided into four equally sized , cubic quadrants , defined by one meridian passing through the galactic core and a second one perpendicular to the first , that also passes through the galactic core . These four quadrants are referred to as the Alpha Quadrant , Beta Quadrant , Gamma Quadrant and Delta Quadrant . The United Federation of Planets and its neighboring powers , including the Klingon and Romulan Empire s , were located in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants , whereas the Borg Collective was located in the Delta Quadrant , and the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant . ( ; ; ) The division into four quadrants was used by United Earth and the Vulcan s as early as the mid - 22nd century . ( ) In 2152 , after less than a year into the mission of , it was remarked by Vulcan Ambassador Soval , that he considered the ship to be a danger to the quadrant . By that time , " Enterprise " had involved itself in several armed conflicts and escalated conflict between the Vulcans and the Andorian s . ( ) In 2153 , a subspace message sent by the Borg was determined to have a destination deep inside the Delta Quadrant . ( ) In 2267 , when Lazarus and began changing places between each other , the physical laws of the universe were distorted for a brief moment . Captain Kirk noted in his log that the effects were felt throughout the entire quadrant of space . According to Commodore of Starfleet Command , the effect occurred in every quadrant of the Galaxy and far beyond . ( ) Minor quadrants . Smaller areas of space in the Galaxy were also referred to as quadrants during the 23rd and 24th centuries . These included : Quadrant 9 , Quadrant 448 , Quadrant 904 , the Morgana Quadrant , and the Drema Quadrant . ( ; ) In 2266 , the Federation starship conducted a survey of a quadrant in which the ship was located . According to Spock , there were no disturbances in this region . ( ) In 2267 , following the loss of the Federation shuttlecraft " " in Murasaki 312 , the " Enterprise " shuttlecraft " Columbus " conducted a search of quadrant 779X by 534M . After reporting negative results , the shuttle was ordered by Captain Kirk to proceed to the next quadrant . ( ) Later that year , negotiations to build a treaty port on Vendikar for the quadrant where the planet was located were conducted by Federation Ambassador Robert Fox . ( ) During the same year , unit XY - 75847 reported a fleet of Klingon ships in their sector , which was located in the same quadrant as the planet Organia . ( ) Also during the same year , the planet Argelius II was of strategic importance as a space port to the Federation . At the time , it was the only port in that quadrant . ( ) By 2268 , a particular quadrant of space , which included such notables as Deep Space Station K - 7 , Donatu V , and Sherman ' s Planet , had been under dispute between the Federation and Klingon Empire since initial contact . In that year , Nilz Baris served as the Undersecretary for Agriculture in said quadrant . ( ) Also in 2268 , during a transport mission to Babel , the " Enterprise " encountered an unidentified vessel that was shadowing the " Enterprise " s route . Following contact with Starfleet , the " Enterprise " received acknowledgment which confirmed that there were no other authorized Federation vessels in the quadrant . ( ) During the same year , the " Enterprise " was exploring an outer quadrant of the Galaxy when it received a distress call from the planet Scalos . ( ) In 2269 , the " Enterprise " was ordered to respond to a botanical plague that was devastating a planet in the quadrant of the Galaxy where the ship was operating at the time . ( ) In 2270 , when the " Enterprise " encountered Kukulkan ' s starship , it was noted that Starfleet listed no other authorized vessels in that particular quadrant . ( ) In 2284 , when the " Enterprise " was ordered to Regula I by Starfleet Command , Admiral Kirk informed Starfleet Command that " all we had was a boat load of child ren , " but the craft was nevertheless diverted because it was the only ship in the quadrant . While en route to Regula , the " Enterprise " encountered the , under the command of Khan Noonien Singh . Once the two ships were in visual range of each other , it was noted that the " Reliant " had entered the same section of the quadrant as the " Enterprise " was currently in . ( ) In 2364 , the planet Aldea was discovered in quadrant 1 , mark 9 - 0 , in the Epsilon Mynos system , by the . ( ) Later that year , the " Enterprise " - D received a communique from Starfleet reporting a battle in Quadrant 9 , coordinates 070 - mark - 3 , in the Klingon Neutral Zone . ( ) During that year , the " Enterprise " - D picked up an unusual disturbance in a nearby quadrant , more specifically in Sector 63 . The disturbance was caused by the destruction of the . ( ) As of 2365 , the Morgana Quadrant was a section of the Galaxy that had not yet been visited by a manned Federation vessel . ( ) Talos IV was located in the third quadrant of Vernal Galaxy . ( ) Background information . The term " quadrant " was first mentioned in . In the script of " Court Martial " , internal sections of a starship were referred to , in scripted dialogue , as " quadrants " . The minor quadrants were clearly of variable sizes . In some cases , a quadrant was an area outside the ship in visual range , such as in " Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan " and " When The Bough Breaks " , or an area that could still be quickly explored with sublight shuttlecraft , such as those mentioned in " The Galileo Seven " . In other cases , quadrants were composed of multiple sector s , such as the ones mentioned in " Errand of Mercy " and " Conspiracy " . In " Heart of Glory " , " Quadrant 9 , coordinates 070 - mark - 3 " was also shortened as " Quadrant 907 - mark - 3 " . According to the , the reason for splitting the Federation between Alpha and Beta Quadrants was to rationalize Kirk ' s line in " Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan " that the " Enterprise " was the only starship in the quadrant . Quadrants and sectors have been used inconsistently in various " Star Trek " episodes and films . During " " , the term " quadrant " was used rather freely , as was the term " sector " . At times , " quadrant " seems to refer to a fourth of the entire galaxy , while at others it seems to be a portion of a smaller region . It was not until the episode of that the current system of Alpha , Beta , Delta , and Gamma quadrants was firmly established . Retroactively , " Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country " adhered to this system as well , as did . Furthermore , according to the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " , Earth marks the border between the Alpha Quadrant and the Beta Quadrant . The display graphic on a PADD in would seem to confirm this . Dialogue in and , however , firmly establish that Earth is located on the Alpha Quadrant side of the border . It is unclear how the names for each of the four major quadrants were assigned , as they do not seem to follow any discernable pattern , instead of in clockwise or counterclockwise order . Viewing the galaxy from a top - down map with the " Alpha " quadrant in the lower left , and going around clockwise , the order is Alpha , Gamma , Delta , Beta . Additionally , Bjo Trimble explained , in the " Star Trek Concordance " , that a quadrant is " an area of space ( a misnomer , as it should be called an octant ) . " In , Taymon claimed he wanted to explore every " quarter " of the galaxy , suggesting his civilization similarly divided the galaxy in four , but termed the resultant segments differently . In the third season edition of the " " ( p . 16 ) , the authors of this reference work wrote that a sector " was composed of four quadrants . "