Lost Souls 3 Expedition Log - 33080728
02 Aug 2022XpressioN
Near the Bubble
Two waypoints left to reach the Bubble, and I'll be back home. I've got new plans. First and foremost I'll have to help my friends defending the human race from the imminent treat the Thargoids are imposing on us. I've got a pile of bounty hunting missions to do, and I need to give a hand with on-foot materials many of my friends are finding it difficult to locate and obtain. I've also enrolled myself in the Close Quarters Combat competition. This is yet another rank that I decided to get up in order. This is an ambitious objective, but I'm sure, with my tenacity I'll manage to get it done and dusted.
Anyway, after our weekly meetup, I started my journey to the first POI of that week. Needless to say that I was still managing to discover undiscoverable systems and sometimes land to atmospheric planets collecting biologicals.
I reached the first POI, V509 Cassiopeiae, is a yellow hypergiant, one of the rarest types of stars. Current estimates suggest there are no more than 15 of these stars in the entire galaxy. Yellow hypergiants are an extremely short-lived phase of late stellar evolution of massive O-type stars. These stars evolve from red hypergiants to blue hypergiants in a phase that lasts only a few thousand years. Many stars lack the mass to go through this phase, or have a much greater mass and end as a supernova.
V509 Cassiopeiae currently has 11 solar masses and a radius 600 times larger than Sol; this would encompass the Sol system past the orbit of Mars. V509 has varied significantly in temperature and size over periods as short as 1 year, indicating that this phase is highly unstable. The attached photo is from a metal-rich orbiting planet at 2300 light-seconds distance.
Heading East, I jumped to the system of Oochody AA-Y c17-1. This system has a ringed Class 1 gas giant sustaining free-floating radio plankton - carbon based algae that extract energy from the planet's intense radiation flux. These type of Jovian gas giants have atmospheres comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium. They derive their colouration from clouds of ammonia, water vapour, hydrogen sulphide, phosphine and sulphur in the upper atmosphere.
Next stop was GCRV 2334 (NGC 1501). NGC 1501 (also known as the Oyster Nebula) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Camelopardalis that was first discovered by William Herschel in 1787. Located on the border of the Orio-Persean Gap and Wayfarer's Graveyard, this system features an unusually large Wolf-Rayet star (over 8.8 solar radii) in a binary orbit with a Class M red dwarf and a second Class M dwarf in a binary orbit with a smaller Class L dwarf. The first stellar complex is orbited by a high metal content world and two lava worlds, while the second is orbited by another 9 high metal content worlds. Checking the planetary nebula from a nearby star - NGC 1501 Sector DL-Y d1 as well.
Entering the Sanguineous Rim region I proceeded my way to Slegi DH-J d10-27. Body number five in this system gas a Class 2 gas giant that sustains carbon based algae with some highly illuminative green spots.
I took a quick break, slept for a couple of hours, and proceeded to the next POI before waypoint 17. NGC 7822 Nebula has a collection of stars arranged in a rough cylinder facing Sol. The red glow of the nebula meets the blue glow of a class O star. NGC 7822 is well above the galactic ecliptic. It is about 2,790 light years from Sol. The systems I visited were: NGC 7822 Sector EG-Y e2,
NGC 7822 Sector BQ-Y d12 (Gorgon Research Facility), - A research facility operated by the Life Sciences Expedition. This fully functional asteroid base offers most standard station services, including a Passenger Lounge and Universal Cartographics,
S171 25 and S171 23 which consists of a S171 23 A / O (Blue-White) Star (Scoopable) and a S171 23 B / Black Hole.
S171 34 (Cupid's Arrow). Cupid's Arrow is a tourist beacon at the edge of the NGC 7822 Nebula. As described by the tourist beacon: "The beautiful NGC 7822 nebula is pierced by a line of O-stars - therefore it has been compared to Cupid's arrow piercing a heart."
Spent a couple of days exploring this majestic nebula. The majority of my friends were already at WP17, so I headed straight there. VV Cephei - is a stellar mystery, one star missing an another star greatly changed. In the 20th century astronomers observed VV Cepehi as an eclisping binary pair of a red supergiant and a blue-white dwarf companion star. The pair had one of the longest known eclipsing cycles, lasting over 20 years. Based on data from this pair, the red supergiant was determined to have over 1000 solar radii and making it one of the largest known stars by radii. The only other bodies in this system are three high-metal content worlds.
After the invention of frameshift drive, exploration of the VV Cephei pair stunned astrophysicists. The blue-white companion was entirely absent, and the red supergiant was only 318 solar radii. Did astronomers miss a cataclysmic event, or had their observations been wrong for so long? Theories are being hastily reviewed.
After exploring the system I docked on the TFC CANDLE IN THE VOID - K2Y-BXN fleet carrier for maintenance and supplies. I met with a couple of friends and had long discussions about the current situation in the Bubble. No one knows what surprises we're going to have, once the Proteus Wave weapon is deployed. As Galnet News reported, the Superweapon construction is now completed.
Superweapon Construction Completed
29 JUL 3308
*Pilots’ Federation ALERT*
Work on the Proteus Wave in the HIP 22460 system has concluded, according to an announcement from Azimuth Biotech.
“This is Salvation. The core mechanism of the Proteus Wave is now fully assembled. Under my guidance, specialists are performing checks at the selected site on HIP 22460 10 b. Additional power capacitors are also being installed to improve energy transfer management.”
“Over the next few days, the Proteus Wave will be calibrated within one of the Thargoid structures, the unique properties of which will greatly amplify the weapon’s signal. This breakthrough was only made possible due to decades of xenological research conducted by Azimuth, alongside pioneering theories on cross-species interfaces.”
“Commodore Halloran reports that even greater numbers of Thargoid vessels have arrived within the Proteus Wave’s effective range. But it is now absolutely critical that they are prevented from approaching the planet. At all costs, the superweapon must be protected until it is ready for activation.”
The Allied, Federal and Imperial anti-xeno taskforces continue to engage Thargoid forces within the HIP 22460 system. Volunteers are still urgently needed to support their capital ships and take part in defending the Proteus Wave project. The Musashi, an Azimuth megaship in the nearby Pleiades Sector CW-U B3-2 system, will redeem all Thargoid combat bonds.
