NYND 3308: Day 46
17 Feb 2022Helios Eusebio
February 17, 330804:07:30 UGT
Challenger, Dryao Chraei MI-S e4-35 2 B (Malis) (33.8540, -41.4912)
MET: 45:09:48:20
We're ready to depart from Malis now. Our survey isn't as extensive as we'd like but we've done the best we can in these low light conditions. Navigating a rocky surface in low light is dangerous enough, but combine that with a lot of geological activity? Well, things can get hairy fast. Either way, Malis has proven to certainly be one of the more interesting worlds we've come across.
We've got another system from Canonn to look into, this one a little over 1,400 ly from our current position. We're going to be heading back up above the disk so we're going to need to be careful with navigation and fuel usage.
Still, Kiana got us here from Lunar Hyperlight in just 6 jumps and she says she can get us to our next target in 8. If she can pull that off, then she'll be in line for a bump in her payout.
05:05:35
ChallengerDryao Phylio AA-A h410 A (Bague ornée de Bijoux)
MET: 45:10:46:25
They call this system "Bague ornée de Bijoux." Which roughly translated means "Jeweled Ring."
And what a system it is! Just about the entire main sequence is represented here and there's enough planets and moons to organize an expedition in its own right. And anchoring it all together are 4 Black Holes. It's the second most that we've seen in one system but an impressive sight nonetheless. The Black Holes (which we've named Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and Caliban) are each in binary pairs with each other; Prospero and Miranda in one and Ariel and Caliban in the other. All four are in the stellar-mass category but their masses differ. Ariel and Caliban weigh 7 and 3 Solar masses respectfully, while Miranda and Prospero come in at 10 and 37(!).
The Black Holes are also very old, with Prospero coming in at just over 11 billion years. Obviously the odds of this whole system forming together naturally are not great; the most likely explanation is that this is the result of several star systems of varying ages coming together thanks to the coalescing of the Black Holes. It may even be possible that some of these stars formed from the Supernova explosions that created the Black Holes. As I always say, the universe is not without a sense of irony.
Looks like Cannon wants a lot of stuff catalogued. Let's get to work.
06:40:00
Challenger, Dryao Phylio AA-A h410 ABC 1 B (Bague ornée de Bijoux) (3.3127, 141.8498)
MET: 45:12:20:50
Looks like we're gonna be staying out here for a little while. One of the drives cracked during the descent. Thankfully we didn't have a flameout on approach (even in .37 G that would be catastrophic) but Harper says it's gonna take some time before she can do enough field repairs to get it to a condition where we'll probably be able to make it back to Lunar Hyperlight.
We've been taking a look at the planets surrounding the first star in the system: a Class L2V Brown Dwarf. Despite being cooler than a Class M Red Dwarf, these planets are still orbiting within close proximity to the Class L, which means they have surface temperatures within the 3-500 Kelvin range, certainly on the warm side when compared to the planets we've seen around similar stars. As such, we've had to land near the terminator lines in order to keep temperatures within a tolerable range.
The nearest planet we landed on showed signs of geological activity, probably due to the Brown Dwarf heating the surface and allowing for vents, fumaroles and Lava spouts to propagate. The ejecta is predominantly Iron Magma, which is consistent with materials we've recovered on the surface. The planet is also tidally locked during it's 1.3 Earth day orbit, the Brown Dwarf dominating the daytime sky while the far side is considerably cooler (though still warm due to geological activity).
We also saw geological activity coming from the moon of the third planet and it was quick to see why. The tidally-locked moon orbits its planet in just over 7 hours and with a gravity of just .13 G it's clear that the tidal forces are slightly pulling the moon apart like Jupiter's moon Io. Still, we've seen other moons in similar orbits with less geological activity and so we were curious to see what conditions on the surface were like.
Sure enough, we found more spouts, vents and fumaroles on the surface but that wasn't the only sign of the gravitational tug of war this moon was undergoing. The terrain appeared to have been recently reshaped, alternating between rocky outcrops and vast depressions reminiscent of craters. It wasn't rough enough to prevent Mir 1 from navigating, but the differences were startling. Some areas look like they're sinking into the very crust of the moon while just a kilometer away mountains are raising out of the ground. Clearly the geological processes to create these features are dramatic.
In the sky above, the planet looms. It may only be 22% the mass of Earth but it's hard to reconcile that statistic with this view. We can't be certain but we feel that this moon is just outside the Roche limit, which would account for the tidal forces affecting the surface. It's a very precarious balance, gravity. Too close and a world is ripped to shreds, too far and it floats away into the void. Of course, this entire system can be said to be this delicate tango writ large, as everything here is ultimately orbiting around 4 Black Holes.
And that brings us to our current parking space; the second planet from the Class L with a tenuous atmosphere made up of Sulphur Dioxide. Interestingly enough we detected no volcanism on the surface, which suggests that even if the planet was geologically active before it's not active now. Surface temperatures range from 236 to 461 Kelvin and like the other worlds we've looked at so far it's tidally locked, orbiting every 2.2 Earth days. And amazingly enough, we've detected biological life forms.
We sent out Carlton and Dawn in Mir 2 to investigate and we quickly found flora within range of our landing site. The signals come from Bacterium colonies as well as a new type of Stratum called "Cucumisis." As their name suggests, they appear very similar to cucumbers found on Earth, with slits on the surface that appear to be used for photosynthesis. They certainly seem to be more hardened than other Stratum types that we've found and we're curious what the function for that could be. The high surface temperatures make it unlikely that this is because of thermoregulation on the part of the plants. Could the atmospheric composition have something to do with it?
Well we'll have plenty of time to take samples of these life forms since we're stuck here until Harper can get the drive fixed. Hopefully we don't take too long, there's still a lot more planets in this system to explore.