Warp trail

A warp trail (also known as an ion trail) was a wake left by a starship using warp drive. A warp trail could be tracked with sensors, although there were ways of masking warp trails, such as traveling through a nebula.

In 2151, the followed a Suliban vessel into the atmosphere of a gas giant by tracking its warp trail. Enterprise did not originally have the sensor acuity to identify a warp trail, but this changed when Subcommander T'Pol modified the sensors to isolate the plasma decay rate of the Suliban ship. 

In 2152, Travis Mayweather successfully located a Kreetassan starship by scanning for their warp trail. 

In 2153, Enterprise tracked the ion trail of an Osaarian vessel that had hidden inside a cloaking field to avoid detection. 

In 2154, the crew of Enterprise pursued Doctor Arik Soong and his Augments into Klingon territory by tracking their warp trail. Once Soong discovered that Enterprise was using the Bird-of-Prey's warp trail to track them, he was able to successfully mask their warp trail. 

In 2356, Magnus and Erin Hansen attempted to mask their warp trail in a nebula when they and their daughter, Annika, attempted to escape from the Borg aboard the USS Raven. 

In 2370, Chief Miles O'Brien was able to retrace a Maquis warp trail to find Gul Dukat. 

In 2372, the crew of the USS Voyager discovered the ion trail of a Kazon carrier vessel commanded by Razik which had destroy Chakotay's shuttlecraft. 

Soon after, a warp trail was discovered leading away from a moon the Voyager crew had been surveying for polyferranide, which lead them to a seemingly lifeless planet with an unusual energy source. 

After a raid on Voyager by the Kazon-Nistrim in which a transporter module was stolen, Seska deliberately left a warp trail behind for Captain Janeway to follow. 

In the same year, Voyager encountered the Cardassian Dreadnought missile in the Delta Quadrant. It contained a sophisticated array of computer technology as well as its own high-powered warp drive. To avoid detection, it was also capable of masking its own warp trail. 

A group of rogue Jem'Hadar used a magneton pulse to dissipate their ion trail after attacking Deep Space 9. 

When the Nistrim seized Voyager at the end of 2372, Seska ordered Maje Cullah's askara to scan for the warp trail of a missing shuttlecraft even if they found its wreckage. 

In 2373, Tieran, in the body of Kes, stole a Voyager shuttlecraft and remodulated the plasma injectors to suppress its warp signature. 

Benjamin Sisko told Worf to look for an ion trail generated by a runabout Kira Nerys had taken to interview several Cardassians suspected of being behind the killings of a number of former members of the Shakaar resistance cell. 

In 2377, Janeway ordered her senior staff to scan for the ion trail of Gar's ship after the Dralian stole The Doctor's program. 

Later that year, she again gave the order to scan for ion trails after Voyager's deuterium was stolen in the Void. 

In 2378, The Doctor masked the Delta Flyer IIs ion trail after departing with Voyagers warp core to deliver it to a pair of kidnappers. 

Other references


Ionenspur Traînée de distorsion