Temporal anomaly



A temporal anomaly is a disruption in the spacetime continuum which can be related to time travel. Temporal anomalies can take many forms and have many different effects, including temporal reversion, the creation of alternate timelines, and fracturing a vessel into different time periods. 

In 2373, the USS Defiant (2370) encountered a temporal anomaly in an energy barrier surrounding a planet in the Gamma Quadrant. As a result of this encounter, the Defiant was thrown back in time two hundred years, and subsequently crashed on the planet's surface. Realizing that they had no way to get back to their own time, the crew established a colony on the planet, which they named "Gaia." Two hundred years later, the descendants of the original colonists contacted their counterparts on the Defiant, which had just arrived at the planet. When the crew of the Defiant learned what had happened, and that if they attempted to avoid the encounter with the anomaly that the colonists' timeline would collapse and they would cease to exist, they committed to recreating the accident in order to preserve the lives of their descendants. The plan failed, however, due to the influence of Odo's counterpart, who was still alive after two hundred years, and who reprogrammed the Defiant's autopilot in order to save the life of Kira Nerys, with whom he was in love. Scanning the planet, the crew of the Defiant found no trace of the colony, which was erased from existence due to Odo's actions. 

Temporal anomalies

 * Anti-time eruption
 * Energy vortex
 * Causality loop
 * Nexus
 * Temporal displacement
 * Temporal distortion
 * Temporal explosion
 * Temporal inversion
 * Temporal fracture
 * Temporal fragment
 * Temporal flux
 * Temporal rift
 * Kerr loop

Factors

 * Chroniton
 * Temporal mechanics
 * Time

Effects

 * Alternate timeline
 * Temporal causality loop
 * Temporal paradox