Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star located approximately 7.8 light years from Earth. It is one of the nearest stars; only the Alpha Centauri system and Barnard's star are known to be closer. With a visual magnitude of 13.54, it is too dim to be visible to the naked eye.
With a large proper motion of 4.7" per year, Wolf 359 was discovered in a proper motion survey of Max Wolf at Heidelburg University early in the 20th century. Wolf 359 is an extremely cool, extremely faint red dwarf: its absolute magnitude is just +16.8, a luminosity of 1/63,000th the Sun's. Its mass and radius are both probably about 10% of the Sun's. It is a flare star that undergoes random increases in luminosity because of magnetic activity on its surface.
In the Star Trek universe, the Battle of Wolf 359 takes place in the year 2367 between the United Federation of Planets and the Borg Collective. The Borg cube obliterates the Starfleet force, destroying 39 ships, and taking over 11,000 lives. Following its victory, the Borg ship continues on its course to Earth, where the crew of the Enterprise-D stop the cube.
[Adapted from STARS by Jim Kaler, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois]