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In the Star Trek: TNG episode, 'The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2' the Enterprise-d arrives at the site of the Battle of Wolf 359. They find the fleet completely destroyed. How long after the battle did they arrive?

I'm curious because Wolf 359 is a real star (a red dwarf) that is only 7.8 light years from Earth. Once the Borg had destroyed the fleet, it should have taken them almost no time to reach Earth. Was there some reason that they waited before proceeding on?

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    One commercial break.
    – Politank-Z
    Nov 23, 2015 at 21:19
  • The question in your title and the questions in the body are two different questions! Which are you interested in; why the Enterprise-D waited, or how long the Borg took to arrive at Earth from Wolf 359?
    – Often Right
    Nov 24, 2015 at 0:17

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A little less than a day

Star Trek.com tells us that the system is 7.6 light years away. Now, we learn in TNG 'Q Who' that the Borg Cube was capable of keeping up with the Enterprise-D at Warp 9.65 (Source). This site claims that the Cube's maximum warp speed is warp 9.98.

Referring to this site, warp 9.9 is 3,053 times the speed of light. We'll assume that the Borg cube was traveling slightly under it's maximum speed.

Now, the speed of light is approximately 299,338 km/s, making warp 9.9 a speed of 913,878,914 km/s.

Back to Wolf 359, 7.6 light years is approximately 7.2e13 km. So, to travel that distance at warp 9.9, it would be (7.2e13 / 913,878,914) / 3600 seconds = approximately 22 hours

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  • Unless I'm mistaken it should be divided by 3600 seconds, not 360 hours. I also think StarTrek.com may be under reporting the distance from Wolf 359 to Earth a little. Either that or someone bumped up the distance in Wikipedia.
    – Xantec
    Nov 24, 2015 at 0:23
  • @Xantec thanks for picking that up - my bad! The calculation is correct (I divided by 60 and then again by 60)
    – Often Right
    Nov 24, 2015 at 0:35
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    @Xantec Memory Alpha says it's 7.5 light years from Sol, so I reckon that'd be about right, in the Star Trek Universe anyway, not necessarily in reality!
    – Often Right
    Nov 24, 2015 at 0:36
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    That's true. With the motto "We Hate Continuity" that doesn't necessarily have to be only within the fiction. It could be between the fiction and reality too I guess.
    – Xantec
    Nov 24, 2015 at 0:40

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