Exploration - 1.1 - June 3307
02 Jul 2021Sumurai8
[19 06 3307 10:39:42 | Inferred location: Oofaih LF-J b24-2]Been going for over a week now. Just landed in a patch of systems, all with binary stars as the primary and secondary star.
[19 06 3307 12:46:03 | Inferred location: Prooe Phio XY-A b17-0 BC 3]
Being cooped in a spaceship is never good for your mental health. Fortunately I found myself a nice binary planet with geological signals. Decided to check it out. I mean, the worst that can happen is that I crash into the surface and that I, just like the 10 people in the hold that I scooped up from planets at the beginning of my journey, will never make it home.
I found a nice spot to set down near a fumarole. At first it seemed inactive, but after walking around it huge plumes of vapor shot out from the mount, and all nearby vents and roles. Impressive to see. I sent out the drone to take a picture of it. I particularly like the binary planet cresting over the horizon.
FUMAROLES FOR BREAKFAST in Inara Gallery
[19 06 3307 13:51:31 | Location: TrA X-1]
Waypoint reached. Sometimes you want to find something new. Sometimes you want to see things others have seen before, and found interesting enough to name. TrA X-1 is one of the latter systems. It is a very dark system where 3 black holes orbit each other.
Travelling in this system is nerve-wracking. There are no stars in this system, so everything is very dark. The ship computers identified 3 black holes, but it is hard to steer a ship around a black hole while also getting close enough to get pleasing pictures. In the end I settled for a picture of a black hole distorting a galaxy behind it. While this black hole might not be as strong as some of the others out there, I love seeing light bend, and creating two copies of the same galaxy.
BLACK HOLE DISTORTS GALAXY in Inara Gallery
[20 06 3307 00:16:23 | Location: Puelaa OD-V b8-0]
Another waypoint in known space. Nebulas are always spots where people gravitate towards, and the Devil's Hair nebula is no exceptions. Having visited it, I am not sure where the devil itself went. In any case, I quite enjoyed the view of this nebula, with the familiar band of stars in the background.
DEVIL'S HAIR NEBULA in Inara Gallery
[21 06 3307 23:05:20 | Location data lost, inferred as Pro Aec BM-M d7-35]
Wow. Jumped into this system and despite the low number of bodies, 5 out of 9 show promise for terraforming and colonisation. Remarkable. While scanning the water world in this system, the sun was eclipsed by the water world and light scattering in the atmosphere of the planet reached me. What was even nicer was the NGC 6357 in the background. I just had to take a picture of this moment.
WATER WORLD OVERLOOKING NGC 6357 in Inara Gallery
[21 06 3307 23:59:45 | Location data lost, inferred as Pro Aec AM-M d7-36]
In the grand lottery of life, this system won the jackpot. This is a large system, with 52 bodies, but what is more remarkable is that a large number of moons have 6 or 7 biological signals. I set down on some of the bodies to scan the plants, but word has reached me that I am needed at home. Trouble has been brewing, and I am unable to provide assistance with these one-way deep space communications.
[23 06 3077 00:22:28 | Location: Prieluia UC-V d2-36]
Made it to my last waypoint before home. I looked forward to visit this nebula, but interestingly while viewing it from afar it looks like a butterfly, it looks just like a blob from up close. A beautiful colourful blob, but still a blob. Part of me wants to venture into NGC 6357, to see it from within, but home is calling and it is time for me to follow a neutron highway home.