On the way to Sag A*
26 Mar 2021Chase Quinnell
March 26th, 3307Carrier Serenity, Eord Flyuae NO-Q d5-2108
After the ceasefire with the Bilongo Network, some of us decided to head out into the void. Our expedition is making the trek to the Galactic Core and will return via Colonia. Early on, we explored a few nebulae in the Inner Orion Spur region. Later, we started investigating interesting ruins and planetary nebulae. I've personally charted over 400 systems and we're only about halfway to the Core.
approaching the Eagle Nebula
The Eagle Nebula proved rather interesting; it has an unusual cluster of stars all of the same spectral type clustered in a small region. The nebula is pretty thoroughly charted by other expeditions but it was a nice stopping point nonetheless. For me, it served as my first experience inside of a nebula!
P-type anomaly
Our first stellar phenomena were some P-Type anomalies in the Pru AESCS sector.
Abandoned Conflux Site Delta
Traveling near the Colonia Highway, we stopped by the mysterious Conflux settlements and loaded the loads from the local uplinks. The stories were mostly grim with only one seemingly ending without incident. It's strange that over 40 years later we still know very little about these places.
black hole in a planetary nebula
meetup on a planet orbiting the black hole
Captain Malcolm Reynolds spotted a nearby planetary nebula not long after we left the Conflux settlements. We went to investigate and found it was centered around a black hole (Flyiedgiae EB-W e2-37). Three of us broke away from our individual explorations to visit the system and found a beautiful green 'sky' with a barely visible singularity at the center of it all.
The Incident
Terraformable at the bottom of the galaxy
After most of my fellow commanders returned to the Serenity for some R&R, I decided to make a quick visit to the bottom of the galactic plane. With the assistance of neutron stars, I propelled myself 'down' as far as I could go. I found a constellation of 3 star systems near each other and mapped them out. I even discovered a beautiful terraformable ringed planet. Upon loading stellar cartography to plot a return trip, it failed repeatedly. It was then that I realized my mistake... Neutron star jumps can get you to your destination, but returning the same way is not possible. Seems obvious in retrospect... so now I find myself over 200Ly away from the neutron star that got me to this small constellation. Thankfully, I was able to synthesize a standard FSD boost and jump to a nearby white dwarf which was then able to get me back to a neutron star. In a positive turn of luck, I became the first discovered on two neutron stars on my way back 'up!'
Over the last few years, several waystations were built on the 'road to Colonia.' One of these is Sacajawea Space Port. Some of us made a brief stop there to reconnect with a small piece of civilization. It was refreshing to see other people again and have some different food. On the subject of food, as I was leaving the spaceport, the nearby gas giant reminded me of a giant meatball on a plate.
Tiny Herbig Ae/Be star orbiting an O-class
Bubblegum Planet
Commander LSDMT found a really neat system centered on an O class star. It was orbited by an incredibly small Herbig Ae/Be star with a solar radius of 0.1453. Further into the system there are several brown dwarf stars casting a pinkish glow on the outer system planets. One of these planets is a 2.9G world with a gorgeous pink appearance and some patches of light yellow. I dubbed it "Bubblegum Planet" due to its appearance.
First Earthlikes!
After over 600 discovered systems, I finally encountered my first Earth-like worlds. The first one was ringed with a small moon. It was 1.34G with a tidally locked orbital period of 193.6 days. This planet may be a bit rough to live on except around the day/night border.
My second Earth-like was far more appealing. It had no moon or rings, but it was 0.83G with an orbital period of 265.3 days. Atmospheric pressure comparable to Earth at around 1.06 atmospheres. It's a smaller world at about 0.48 Earth masses and a radius of 4.8Mm.
On my way back to the Serenity last night, I discovered a beautiful little water world. It had a gorgeous blue color to it and a nice cloud system. Captain Malcolm reports that Cmdr Alkarius from Colonia rendezvoused with us overnight. We're currently underway towards the Core with much fewer stops along this stretch; I expect we'll be making good time over the next few days.
o7