Hodunk was the third planet of the Votannis star system, located in Federation space in the Alpha or Beta Quadrant. It had a single moon and was one of two class M planets in its system, the other being Bensonia. The Selm were first discovered by the Federation when the USS Kitty Hawk was carrying out a routine survey of Hodunk. The Prime Directive automatically protected the Selm, and a team of fifteen Federation scientists were then stationed on the planet to study them.