Dakala, a rogue planet
- For the episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, see "Rogue Planet".
A rogue planet is a planet that has broken out of its orbit around a star. However, such a planet may still be capable of supporting life due to geologic activities on it, such as hot gases venting from its interior, forming oases where lifeforms can thrive. (ENT: "Rogue Planet")
The Founders' homeworld in the Omarion Nebula was such a planet, as was Dakala. (DS9: "The Search, Part I"; ENT: "Rogue Planet")
In 2151/2152, Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01 discovered a rogue planet named Dakala that was used as a hunting ground by the Eska, whose people had come to the planet for nine generations to kill the indigenous species. Using sensing cloaks which prevented them from being detected, the Eska were able to successfully track down their prey. As it turned out, this "prey" was in fact a sentient species of telepathic shapeshifters, called wraiths by the hunters, who were being killed by the Eska for sport. (ENT: "Rogue Planet")
In 2371, the USS Voyager discovered a rogue planetoid that they thought contained dilithium deposits. In reality, however, it was being used by the Vidiians as an organ lab. (VOY: "Phage")