Massive Nebulae Excursion, Intro and Day 1
29 Dec 2016Tervaskanto
Decided to do a Colonia/Sag-A run to knock the achievements off. Since I'm currently unemployed, and don't have much to do, I figure I'll take the scenic route and hit a bunch of off-the-beaten-path nebulae en route to those achievements. I plan to explore any systems inside the nebulae I hit in search of suitable barnacle locations. While I don't have much room to bring any meta-alloys back to the bubble (or more likely to Jacques if I actually get that far), I would like to make note of any potential places outside the Pleiades-and-area nebulae that might hold barnacles. I also am in no hurry, so my roundabout trek may take a while.DAY 1:
Flew out toward the LBN 623 nebula. Nothing inside the nebula itself, but there were two stars that touched the outskirts that I felt may be worth checking. I was wrong. There are a few F-class stars near the nebula, but not near enough to have piqued my interest. There may be potential for a more thorough explorer than I. That said, it was one of the prettier nebulae I've visited so far, especially when looking coreward through the purple haze.
After that disappointment, I set my sights on the Iris nebula. It has an F type star right smack in the middle of the nebula, as well as some A types within 20 light years, so I figured, why not? The central F-class star was a bust, with three stars and nothing else in the system. Heading to the nearby A-class stars, I was disappointed to see more of the same...several stars, but no planets, nevermind planets that suit the conditions for barnacles to appear. However, I wouldn't rule out the Iris just yet...there's plenty of stars I'm skipping in the interest of keeping sane, choosing the stars that will get me exploration credits over being entirely thorough. I must say though, the Iris wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as LBN 623 was. It looked better on the approach than it did when I got inside. Ah well, that's life.
And after two disappointing nebulae, I'm heading out a bit further from my ultimate destination, toward the Cave Nebula. It's a larger nebula, so hopefully it will yield better results, however it is still 40 jumps away from the Iris, so I will likely not arrive there until day 2. As such, I will call this log finished until my next day's journey.
Oh, and there's a big bright spot on the horizon that I've had troubles pinning down...although I think I've finally managed to. I THINK it's a small nebula with a cluster of black holes...it's not terribly far from the Cave Nebula, so I may have to detour even further away from the core to check it out. Hope it looks as nice up close as it does from afar!