PERSEUS REACH 3306 PART 2/2 - THE LONG WAY HOME (Trip #8)
27 Oct 2020XhaleR
After 130 days traveling across the galaxy and finishing the Perseus Reach expedition, I have started on my long journey home. My plan is to cross the most desolated parts of the Abyss and then follow the outer areas of the Scutum Centaurus arm all the way down to the Outer Arm.
Many of the DSSA Fleet Carriers have started to arrive at their destination system, so I will hopefully rendez vous with a few of these "safe havens" on my way back.
16.06.3306 - DAY 130 - "AU REVOIR, SALOME'S REACH!!"
After a few days of rest at this special and beautiful place, I have started to prepare my departure from Salome's Reach. Filled up with jumponium materials I am ready to explore the outer edge. It's always the same strange feeling making the first jump towards home after beeing on an expedition for so long.
12.07.3306 - DAY 156 - A SAFE HARBOUR AT THE EDGE OF THE GALAXY
Almost a month has passed since my last log update and I've crossed the Abyss and the Hieronymus Delta regions and entered the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm. After traveling 30 000LY's I have finally arrived at my first destination along the route; the DSSA Solsen's Alastor fleet carrier. I'm used to be alone out here in the deep black, thousands of lightyears from the nearest station, but it sure was a great sight to see the landing pads of this brand new DSSA carrier that has been stationed here close to the beautiful Alastor nebula and also to find a place to rest for a few days.
Safely docked at the "Solsen's Alastor"; my home for a while.
I've discovered lots of interesting systems since leaving Salome's Reach, with numerous water worlds, Ammonia worlds, a few ringed water giants etc. Also found 6 new Earthlike worlds with even a ringed one. And just before my very last jump I ended up finding a triple Water world system located just 46LY's from the "Solsen's Alastor".
Another fascinating system discovery was Bya Chria SX-L d7-41 where I landed on 1 B A that was orbiting extremely close to its parent.
Also found this rather "angry" Neutron star very close to a few red dwarfs, which made an impressive view.
A very nice looking ringed water world discovered in the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm.
16.07.3306 - DAY 160 - A VISIT TO "RIMOR CAPTIONEM"
After two days of rest on the "Solsen's Alastor" it was time to move on. Plotted a course northwest to visit the Rimor Captionem historical location. A distant black hole located at the edge of the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm, 62,260LY's from Sol. I had to do some manual plotting to reach it as the last 10-15 jumps required jumponium. But the place is known as an excellent photo spot of the galaxy, so it was definetely worth the trip.
Also made some quite interesting and various discoveries the last two days since leaving the carrier:
- 15 Water worlds
- 3 Ammonia worlds
- 1 Earthlike world
- 1 ringed Water giant
- 1 Herbig Ae/Be star
29.07.3306 - DAY 173 - LOTS OF JUMPONIUM REQUIRED!!
Continuing my journey south along the edge of the Scutum Centaurus Arm I have discovered some more interesting places and rare systems, but the real gem this time was finding a new pair of undiscovered binary Earth Like worlds about 4500LY north. The system name will be revealed as soon as I have sold the data and will also be reported to the Galactic Mapping project.
After a rather "bumpy" route with 30 boost jumps, I could finally land on one of the planets of "Erikson's Star" yesterday night. This is another one of these extremely distant systems and was even more difficult to reach than the black hole at "Rimor Captionem". To get there in my little 57LY Dolphin it required some detailed route planning as Erikson's Star is currently believed to be the most westerly system in the entire galaxy, 42.213 LY west of Sol. But it was definetely worth the 'struggle' as it is a spectacular location and a place that has been in my bucket list for a long time.
Landed on planet A 1 for the night after a long day in the cockpit. Having a little night cruise in the SRV I couldn't stop looking west. Not a single source of light to spot, just pitch black! An almost hypnotizing view that clearly reminds me how far away from home I am!
Three out of four! With Erikson's Star I have now visited the most western, northern (Semotus Beacon) and southern (Livingstone Point) systems reachable, with only "Magellan's Star" remaining as the most easterly known system.
08.08.3306 - DAY 183 - TOUCHDOWN ON THE DSSA CHRYSAETOS REFUGE
After almost four weeks of exploring since leaving the Solsen's Alastor I have reached the Aquila's Halo region and could touch down at the landing pad on the DSSA “Chrysaetos Refuge” in the Aquila's Halo region. Arriving late at night with not much activity on the carrier, it seemed that I was the only one visiting at the moment.
Have discovered some new great places along the way, but the real finding this time was a pair of binary ELW’s at the very tip of the Scutum-Centaurus arm where you think that almost everything is already discovered.
Enjoyed the rest of the evening in the cockpit relaxing with a glass of Lavian Brandy and looking at the galaxy before lowering the “Limo-Nade” down to the hangar and calling it a day.
08.09.3306 - DAY 213 - ANDROMEDA CALLING!
Exactly seven months ago we were departing from Sol on our first day of the Perseus Reach expedition, and what a journey it has been so far. I've traveled 27000LYs since leaving the “Chrysaetos Refuge” carrier back in Aquila's Halo and tonight I reached another deep space outpost. Located at the distant edge of the Errant Marches region I could finally dock with the "DSSA Andromeda Calling" fleet carrier. The main reason for being here is to visit the "Star One" historical site.
15.09.3306 - DAY 220 - AS CLOSE AS IT GETS!
After 30 boost jumps with a lot of manual route plotting I finally reached the distant system of "Star One" today. I've wanted to visit this place for a long time now as it is the closest (known) system to the Andromeda galaxy, located at the outermost edge of the Errant Marches region. The trip out here is well known to be a challenging one, but my little 57LY Dolphin did the journey without any kind of trouble. But beware! If you're planning to visit Star One, remember to fill up with jumponium materials. You're gonna need it!
Here is my EDSM route starting from the "Andromeda Calling". The longest boostjump on this route is 114LY's.
19.09.3306 - DAY 224 - AT THE END OF THE WESTERN MERIDIAN LINE
After returning from Star One I docked with the Andromeda Calling for the second time and spent the night planning my visit to the Manifest Destiny POI.
After boost jumping almost 3000LY's I have arrived at this distant location which is known to be the furthest reachable system bordering the Western meridian line from Sol. It also has two Notable Stellar Phenomena locations with some nice Lindigoticum Silicate crystals.
ED Astrometrics view
03.10.3306 - DAY 237 - DOCKING WITH THE DSSA MAERZENBECHER FC
It's been two weeks since leaving the Manifest Destiny POI and for the first time on this expedition I am getting the sense of beeing close to home (even if there's still 23 000LY remaining).
I docked with the "Maerzenbecher" FC located in the Hedgo GL-P c5-4 system not too far from the Formidine Rift. The view of the very close ELW from the carrier is stunning!
Found some interesting discoveries on my way; a system with an ELW, WW and 7 terraformable HMCW's and this massive and nice looking 30 earthmasses ringed Waterworld.
Great view of the Andromeda from the outer edge
08.10.3306 - DAY 242 - A VISIT TO "EXPLORER'S END"
Beeing back in known territories exploring the far edge of the Formidine Rift, I arrived at the "Explorer's End" today. This strange system with a Herbig star with an extremely close Blue Giant and two orbiting black holes. Traveling about 5500LY from the Maerzenbecher I have discovered a lot of multi Water world systems on the way and also one containing an ELW.
Nice view of the Blue Giant with the black hole reflecting the Andromeda.
16.10.3306 - DAY 250 - THE ZURARA
This adventurous and eight month long expedition is soon coming to an end as I've almost finished crossing the Formidine Rift and have arrived at the megaship "Zurara". My nav computer show just 12 143LY left until I'm back home.
Stopped by to visit the Sochi on my way. This fascinating system has a Metal rich planet (B1) orbiting just 1.5LY from its star. I landed safely but noticed that the surface temperature was rising fast, but luckily not within dangerous levels at the time. Deployed the SRV to scan the Silicate Vapour Geysers there.
The Zurara megaship is located about 500LY from Sochi and will be my destination for today.
The DSSA KTL Frontier Sanctuary is also stationed here very close to the Zurara and will provide a place to stay for the night.
24.10.3306 - DAY 258 - ALTERA'S EYE
Stopping by at another famous POI on my bucketlist only 6197LY from home. Altera's Eye is a black hole surrounded by a colorful planetary nebula and was certainly worth visititing. Landed at the tourism POI on planet 9 A in the nearest system to get the best view of the nebula.
26.10.3306 - DAY 260 - HOME SWEET HOME!!
After 260 days out in the black and traveling almost 300 000LY around the galaxy I could finally request a docking clearance from Jameson Memorial, my home station. Leaving Altera's Eye a few days ago I suddenly got a bit homesick and plotted a neutron route home for the remaining 6000LY's just to speed up things a bit.
It is always a strange feeling returning back to civilisation from these long and isolated journeys into the black, so I will need some time to acclimatize and get used to the normal life again. But right now I'm heading down to the Jameson bar for a drink and say hello to some friends again.
During the last months I've been looking forward to finally buy my very own fleet carrier as I have been away since before they were launched. The expedition has been a very rewarding one, earning me more than 7 billion credits worth of explorer data. So this trip alone will pay for my carrier....and then some!
SOME INTERESTING SYSTEM DISCOVERIES ON THE RETURN ROUTE:
- "LIFE ON THE EDGE" - pair of Earth like worlds in binary orbit (Tyreanue QT-O d7-3)
- ELW discovered only 815LY from Beagle Point (Iorant LS-T d3-0)
- ELW + WW system (Pyrooe Eop OJ-X d2-7)
- ELW + two WW's (Flyae Greau CT-O d7-6)
- ELW + WW with 5 terraformable bodies (Aowheou RX-L d7-11)
- ELW + WW (Praea Phlai ZA-F d11-17)
- ELW + WW + 7 terraformable HMCW's (Plua Eun OM-W d1-5)
- "Steep Rings" - planet CD 5a has a dramatic 90 degrees angle to its parent gas giant ring (Flyoo Hypooe HC-T d4-2)
- Water world with a water world moon (Pyrooe Eop NJ-X d2-4)
- Triple Water worlds + AMW (Pleia Thio OO-Z d13-7)
- Triple Water Giants with two in binary orbit (Plua Aob CL-O d6-1)
- Giant 109 earthmasses Ammonia world + WW. Green system (Footie KW-W d1-3)
- Neutron star with orbiting ELW and WW (Eorgh Prou JO-Z d13-184)
- Twin Class-B stars with ELW moon and to planets with Biological sites (Hypao Chrie UD-T e3-29)
EXPEDITION SUMMARY:
ROUNDTRIP WITH EXPEDITION WAYPOINTS & POI's:
Thanks for reading my logbook! It's good to be back home.
See you out in the black somewhere! o7
CMDR XhaleR
Perseus Reach 3306 Part 1/2 - Expedition start (Sol - Semotus Beacon)