Has any Star Trek adventure ever reached beyond our Milky Way galaxy? 
Even in the Next Generation series with "Q", and in Voyager, the
"Delta Quadrant" is still witin the Milky Way, correct?

It seems that even Gene Roddenbbery knew that travel to other
galaxies, even with "Warp" would not be possible....

Hi, mmatw:

I hope you find the following answer satisfactory. If for any reason
the following answer is inadequate, please request a clarification
prior to rating the answer and I will do my best to accomodate you.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where No One Has Gone
Before" (season 1, episode 106), a scientist named Kosinski, along
with an assistant known as the Traveler, try out an experimental warp
drive modification. When the warp drive is engaged, the trip travels
2.7 million light years. At the second attempt using the warp drive
(attempting to return the ship home), the ship ends up over 1 billion
light years away the Milky Way -- a place so far removed in the
universe that thought becomes reality. The cause of their distant
travels turns out not to have been a result of the warp drive
modification; rather, the Traveler used his special powers to move
them these great distances. With the help of Wesley, the Traveler
helps the Enterprise return to the Milky Way, and the Traveler, having
expended great deals of energy, fades out of our dimension.

The Milky Way galaxy is approximately 600,000 light years across at
its absolute widest, counting its "dark halo" (1), so a traveling 2.7
million light years (and certainly one billion light years) definitely
puts the Enterprise outside the boundaries of the galaxy.
Additionally, dialogue from this episode indicates that the crew
recognizes their position as "outside the Milky Way", though I cannot
provide an exact quote.

I hope this answers your question. If not, please request a
clarification and I will do my best to improve the answer!

-smudgy

Episode guides for this episode:
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/synopsis/nonegone.syn.html
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/1125/csteg.html

(1) "The Milky Way Galaxy: A Grand Design."
Astronomy 123 class notes, University of Oregon
http://blueox.uoregon.edu/~jimbrau/astr123/Notes/Chapter23.html

Search guidelines:
Episode guides: Google search for <"star trek" "next generation"
synopsis>, <"star trek" "next generation" "episode guide">, and
personal recollection of this episode and its name.
Milky Way data: Google search for <"milky way" radius>

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Request for Answer Clarification by mmatw-ga on 15 Nov 2002 15:07 PST

So this would be the "only" instance?   ----Leaving the general realm
of Star Trek within the Milky Way?

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Clarification of Answer by smudgy-ga on 15 Nov 2002 15:31 PST

mmatw-

I cannot come up with any other Star Trek adventures where the ship
(or another) left the galaxy, although there may be a few more
episodes similar to this one where it does occur -- i.e., some
superpowerful entity flings the ship far afield, well outside the
bounds of our galaxy. However, this is probably the only situation in
which it would occur in Roddenberry's universe.

The answer to your question, "Has any Star Trek adventure ever reached
beyond our Milky Way galaxy?" is definitely yes, but it was certainly
not a regular occurrence.

Incidentally, the Delta Quadrant is within our galaxy. Check out:
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~hwloidl/ST/Galactic_Map-annotated.gif
Search strategy: Google: <"star trek" "galactic map">

If I happen across another reference to an episode which involves
events outside of our galaxy, I will post them as a clarification. In
the meantime, I hope I have answered your question adequately. If not,
please feel free to request another clarification.

-smudgy

---

Clarification of Answer by smudgy-ga on 15 Nov 2002 15:34 PST

mmatw-

Please make note of the great comments below!

-smudgy

Great answers.  Thank You!

I believe there was also at least one orginal series episode where the
enterprise left the galaxy, but I cannot remember the names of them,
nor am I 100% certain that they successfully left the milky way galaxy
(though it was certainly attempted in more than one star trek original
series episode if I remember correctly).

In the original Star Trek series, an episode entitled "By Any Other
Name" involved the Enterprise leaving the galaxy (while under control
of advanced alien beings called the Kelvin) and crossing a "negative
energy barrier."

From Hack-Man's Episode Guide for Star Trek
"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
"In passing through an energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy, some
Enterprise members find their ESP powers greatly heightened, their
eyes glow, and they get god-like powers. Kirk's good friend Gary
Mitchell gets the powers and starts losing respect for Kirk, and
eventually tries to kill him and bury him in the ground. He creates a
garden of Eden for himself and his goddess."
http://www.cs.hut.fi/~tri/hack_man_guide/episodes/WHERE_NO_MAN_HAS_GONE_BEFORE.html

Thanks for your input, guys!

Hey pink, that was exactly the episode I was thinking of!