(5,585 hours) - Phase 10 - Inner Orion-Perseus Conflux to Galactic Centre
09 Sep 2020Evolution
--------------| Overview |
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The overall mission can be found here.
The log is structured into the following sections:
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| Phase 10 |
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This phase has taken 29 hours effort since the Phase 9 update.
At the time of starting this log, the time spent on exploration since the 3rd May had amounted to 408 hours effort. Phase 10 was to finally go back to Sagittarius A and it had been over 5 years since I was last there on 10th June 2015! Below is an image of my Cobra Atavus from the archive, before the Pilots Federation allowed engineering modifications so the ship only had 25LY jump range:
Unlike 5 years ago before Colonia and distant stations existed, the furthest station from Earth is now Explorer's Anchorage which is just outside Sagittarius A and where Phase 10 will be concluded.
The route took me out of the Inner Orion-Perseus Conflux, through Odin's Hold and into the Galactic Centre. Point to point, the distance was 189 jumps / 9736.93LY from EORL BRE PJ-P C19-153 to Sagittarius A. There were also two side objectives to cover:
- There was a greenish looking nebula nearby (Xothuia) that I'd seen a long time ago. So, the first objective was to visit there and that would be the last nebula I'd planned to visit, seeing as I'd visited a lot in Phase 8 and Phase 9.
- Although I'd already seen a Wolf-Rayet star, I hadn't discovered one of my own since logging my data to EDDN from 2017. I searched for a long time and found one almost on route in system PHIMBEE AA-A H39. Point to point, it was 98 jumps / 4,952.69LY and that will be the second objective. For that location, I wouldn't divert off the main course like normal, but would visit Sagittarius A via this destination.
A course was set towards the second objective and a point was chosen to break away for the first objectives detour, being the system EORL BRE UG-C B27-54 at 11 jumps / 568.40LY. The first detour's starting position (EORL BRE UG-C B27-54) was reached, then a course was set towards the Xothuia nebula. The new target system EORL BRE BB-J C24-33 at 14 jumps / 709.00LY.
After 5 jumps, Viatorem got to the EORL BRE HQ-V C16-41 system where there were three high value planets to map, including the one below. This planet was only 9LS from the main star and had a temperature of 2,151k with 2,991.51 atmospheric pressures of entirely silicates:
The target system EORL BRE BB-J C24-33 in the Xothuia nebula was reached and I was glad to see it was true - the nebula had green looking clouds mixed in with red. I headed over to a Gas giant and then retired to my cabin for the night to enjoy the views and get some rest:
The following day, an economical route was plotted through the nebula to EORL BRE XK-J C24-357 - 33 jumps / 107.66LY.
3 worthwhile mapping planets were discovered only 2 jumps later. 2 were terraformable HM planets as well as an Earth Like world. The nebula's green tinge can be seen alongside the green vegetation of the planet:
4 jumps later, I have to say that at this stage that there had been a lot more Water worlds than I expected and also, no systems had been visited before. Here was one of the Water worlds from the system EORL BRE AH-S B48-9 which caught my eye due to the contrast from darker regions in its atmosphere:
6 jumps further (21 left), Viatorem was in the EORL BRE ZP-E D12-352 system, where there were 3 planets worthwhile for mapping.
With 19 jumps left, a Water world was found in the system EORL BRE XK-J C24-342 and the Xothuia nebula had shades of green even darker in this area:
In the same system and much more astoundingly, were the discoveries of 2 Notable Stellar Phenomena here as well. The first Stellar Phenomena was a turquoise coloured Caerulrum Lagrange Cloud:
The Lagrange Cloud contained many Flavum Metallic Crystals:
After collecting data for the scientists back home, I moved on to the 2nd site which was a red Rubicundum Lagrange Cloud:
This Lagrange cloud contained Rubium Metallic Crystals:
In addition to that, the cloud contained another different life form called a Viride Bulb Mollusc which is a space dwelling invertebrate. As I approached the creature, it released some small spores which you can see below. Unaware if it was a defensive reaction or an attack of some kind, I backed away and left it in peace.
5 jumps from the target, 4 worthwhile mapping planets were found at EORL BRE ZP-E D12-626 which had been scanned but never mapped. Here was an Ammonia world from that system:
The last 5 jumps were covered and I arrived in EORL BRE XK-J C24-357, as planned. Between the stats, the nebula having the green effect and the Stellar Phenomena, it felt like this being the last planned visit to a nebula had been a great set of achievements to end on! The next nebula I plan to visit will be Colonia in a later phase.
| For the point I made in the last log about there being a lot of unexplored systems in far away Nebulae, the Xothuia nebula had been even better. Just from the last 33 systems, 28 had never been visited before. 25 valuable planets were found and the total value of those systems was 45,065,709 credits. |
With objective 1 covered, a route was plotted back to the main course line at system EORL BRE MW-N D6-959 (16 jumps / 791.22LY). The new target led onwards to objective 2, as mentioned at the start of the Phase.
System EORL BRE PP-U B47-19 was reached after 2 jumps and contained 2 terraformable High metal content worlds, including this planet (A1):
Viatorem arrived at the target system EORL BRE MW-N D6-959 and a new course was plotted to objective 2's location - PHIMBEE AA-A H39. The new target was 86 jumps / 4,381.03LY away.
13 jumps in, XOTHUIA LC-V D2-1556 was reached, where star B had 5 terraformable planets to map. The value of them came to 8.5m credits. The brown looking world below was actually a Water world with an Ammonia atmosphere and it's terraformable moon is also in the image.
2 jumps later (71 left), the route transitioned from the Inner Orion-Perseus Conflux and into Odin's Hold region.
The system XOTHUIA CF-A E4829 was reached after another 7 jumps (64 left). The main star was class B with 4.89 solar masses. The system had 2 Gas giants and 4 Brown dwarf mini systems within. Oddly, the furthest planet from the star was a Water world at 10,356.13LS, even though it wasn't accompanied by one of the smaller stars. It was most likely able to retain its water due to its +2,600 atmospheric pressures of Nitrogen and Argon, giving it quite a pale appearance. I decided to rest there overnight.
The ninth jump of the next day, was to system DRYI CHRAEI WU-D C26-330 which had 5 high planets to map. Here was planet A6 from the system:
12 jumps later (21st jump), twin Ammonia Water worlds were discovered in DRYUAE CHREA JD-J D9-11401. As there were so many stars, the image below focuses on the more distant WW so it's easier to see them both:
An Earth Like world was discovered after only 3 more jumps in the system DRYUAE CHREA RA-U C17-1692. I had a break there to enjoy the views and submit more star distances to the galactic network (bringing the EDSM amount to 400).
A small detour was taken 4 jumps later (27th jump / 37 left) in the system DRYUAE CHREA OO-X c15-1438. A mini route of 5 jumps / 237.05LY was plotted to a Neutron star stellar remnant nebula at DRYUAE CHREA JH-V E2-8239 - named Dryads Camp in the GMP.
Surprisingly, on the 3rd jump, another Earth Like world was discovered in the system DRYUAE CHREA ZQ-B C14-638. The planet can be seen below with its twin, a water world (just above the nose of the ship).
Viatorem arrived at the target DRYUAE CHREA JH-V E2-8239:
The ship was flown over to investigate some geological signal sources at moon A 5 C. Firstly, to a site which was near the end of a canyon and overlooking planet 5:
I travelled to the dark side of the moon to visit the site mentioned in the GMP details for Dryads Camp. The site didn't have lava spouts as shown with the GMP information but like the first geological signal, it had gas vents instead:
A reverse route of 5 jumps / 236.28LY was then taken back to the main line at DRYUAE CHREA DRYUAE CHREA OO-X c15-58. From there, objective 2 was re-plotted for PHIMBEE AA-A H39. The ship's computer added an extra jump from when the detour was taken, so the new amount was 38 jumps / 1914.49LY.
With 20 jumps remaining and 18 done, another Earth Like world was found in the system DRYI CHREA DR-V D2-6331. The planet had a large mass for an EL at 2.3x planet Earth, a long orbit of 1,183.6 days and 2.2AU distance from star B. I wasn't expecting to find so many EL planets so near to the centre of our galaxy. From there, the distance was only 5,791.05LY.
I arrived at objective 2's destination PHIMBEE AA-A H39. As I'd seen in EDSM prior to reaching there, the system hadn't ever been visited before. It was a privilege to officially discover one as they’re a lot rarer than Neutron stars and Black holes.
As this phase had already felt very rewarding by visiting a green nebula, discovering two Stellar Phenomena, finding so many Earth Like worlds so close to the core and being the first person to see the Wolf-Rayet star above, I felt it was time to set a direct course to the Phase 10 destination - Sagittarius A. With the target plotted, the distance left was 94 jumps / 4,825.83LY.
23 jumps into the route / 71 to go, Viatorem reached the PHIPOE XO-G C11-929 system. Planet A1 was a Metal rich body with geological signals. I took the ship down and found some Sulphur Dioxide Fumarole’s on the surface:
6 jumps later (and with 65 jumps / 3,320.32LY left), the route transitioned from Odin's Hold and into the Galactic Centre.
As the journey continued towards the core, a lot more systems only contained stars but there was a nice surprise on the final system of the day (55 left). 4 worthwhile mapping planets including an Earth Like world were found in the system EOS CHRAEI CB-W C2-4113. It was a perfect place to spend the final night in the void as tomorrow, I'll be able to dock at Explorer's Anchorage in the core.
On the final day, Sagittarius A was plotted again and the computer added an extra jump like earlier in the phase, so the amount left was 56 jumps.
After 11 jumps, the STUEMAU EW-B E6-1300 system was reached and had a Metal rich world worth mapping. The planet had geological sites and looked interesting from orbit:
Viatorem was flown down to investigate the surface and found a rocky area with Sulphur Dioxide Fumaroles:
With 24 jumps done (32 left), the blackness of space was increasingly becoming replaced by a reddish effect from the countless stars in the region. More surprisingly though, was a reddish / pink Gas giant found in the system STUEMAU ZN-R C18-3653:
To add to the luck there had been of finding so many Earth Like worlds on this route, one was found only 14 jumps / 685.70LY from the centre! The planet was in the system PHUA AUB FP-I C9-2504 and was tidally locked to a terraformable HM world:
Only 5 jumps / 217.20LY away, a terraformable high metal planet and a Water world were discovered in the system PHUA AUB TZ-S C3-7832. The Water world had 5.6 Earth masses and was the furthest body from star A. By approaching the core from this angle, there were still no stars which had been visited before. If I had approached from Sol, Beagle Point or Colonia, there would have been much less new systems to discover, if any.
Shortly afterwards, Viatorem arrived at Sagittarius A!
The F63 fighter was deployed to get a faster spin, watching the gravitational lensing.
Then after having fun for a while, it was time to head off to STUEMEAE FG-Y D7561 for the last destination of Phase 10.
STUEMEAE FG-Y D7561 has a Stellar Phenomenon close to an Earth Like world, so firstly, I took Viatorem over to see the site. The site didn't have a Lagrange cloud
but contained Purpureum Metallic Crystals and also some L04-Type Anomalies
Viatorem was lastly taken to the end point of Phase 10 and the official 'furthest station away from Sol' - Explorer's Anchorage.
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| Progress Stats |
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The progress values for Phase 10 were:
Combining the totals from the 10 Phases gives the overall progress of:
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| Route |
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This section shows the route I'd taken via EDSM
Shown just for Phase 10:
Shown for Phases 1-10:
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| The plan ahead |
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Phase 11 will be to spend time at Explorer's Anchorage and get allied with all the minor factions as it's the most distant populated sytem in the galaxy.
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| Ship details |
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Exploration ships are usually as light as possible which sacrifices some usage when they reach their destination.
Although Viatorem is an exploration ship, it can also be used for other aspects as well. Some features of Viatorem include:
The ship description and full information can be found on INARA here and Coriolis here
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Thank you for having a read through. Feel free to give me a shout if you have any comments or questions.
Stay safe and fly safe.
o7, Evo