A quasar-like formation whose radiation and interference swallow the shuttlecraft Galileo in The Galileo Seven.
Murasaki 312 is a quasar-like phenomenon that Kirk is under standing orders to investigate whenever the Enterprise encounters one. In The Galileo Seven he sends Spock and a science team in the shuttlecraft Galileo to study it, but its turbulence drags the shuttle off course.
The formation's radiation and ionisation disrupt sensors and communications, so the Enterprise must search almost blind while the crew is stranded on Taurus II inside it. The deadline set by Commissioner Ferris makes the interference even more costly.