Andromeda Quadrant

Named for its most prominent galaxy, the Andromeda Quadrant spans 56 megaparsecs at its widest and occupies a comparatively crowded region in colonized space. It hosts the headquarters for the Intergalactic Bureau of Investigation and is the home of multiple sapient spacefaring species. The Andromeda Quadrant's most notable exports are petroleum, quantum technology, and certain metal alloys.  

The Andromeda Quadrant was home to many a pioneer during the mapping and occupation of sector 6-epsilon. Today, it is an important historical and cultural hub, and is dense in museums, universities, and intellectual waypoints. The eponymous Andromeda Galaxy, while home to academics, historians, and pre-mapping artifacts, also has the sector's largest per capita crime rate. There is no expert consensus on whether the Bureau emerged in response to the criminal activity or vice versa. However, the Andromeda Galaxy is known for its white-collar crime. The thriving black market, underground gambling rings, and designer drug trade attract as many thrill-seekers as they kill.

The Andromeda Quadrant is also of note as the home of dwarf planet Herschel, home to several influential families originally from the planet Earth. Herschel was instrumental in the development of technologies such as machine learning, xenolinguistic mapping, and galactic positioning systems (GPS).