“The early 2000s, they were often the speculative setting of early science fiction works. Early imaginings of interstellar travel, first contact with aliens, apocalypses, pandemics, you name it, there was probably a movie or book set in the early 21st century of it. While humanity may not have invented interstellar travel by 2020 as many novels and films purported, they still discovered plenty gems of our galaxy by then.
Lucky for us in 3308 we do have interstellar travel and can visit these gems that humans on Earth in the early 21st century could only dream of visiting. So that is just what we will be setting out to do. This expedition will visit many of the noteworthy celestial objects discovered by the early 21st century, some of which even still are considered noteworthy even today in 3308.
We will be setting off from our faction’s home system Keltim, also known as Gliese 149 to the humans of 2020. From there we will be travelling our route clockwise. Many of the sights on this expedition revisit those featured on earlier CEA expeditions for those that weren’t on those.
Please fill out a sign-up form if you’re coming along! Note: even if you’re not sure yet all your details, the form will give you an edit link once you submit so that you can come back and edit your submission in the future with any changes you make. Just make sure to save your link!
Dates: January 07, 2023 to March 11, 2023 Waypoint Count: 20 Distance: 26,100.35 Ly Expedition Discord: https://theexpedition.info/Discord
For Celebration of Early Astronomy 5 we are focusing on exploring various Caldwell clusters, and in particular, Caldwell 1, a large cluster high up from the galactic plane that can only be entered and exited using a carrier. The Caldwell catalog was created by Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, a British astronomer and influential TV presenter on the topic of astronomy.
All legs will be one week long with the exception of our week in Caldwell 1, which will be three weeks long in duration. During this time there will be a pair of carriers swapping positions daily
===================== Current Waypoint List (each leg is 2 weeks) =====================
Leg 1
Keltim (GL 149)
45 Tauri (Caldwell 41)
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-29 (Caldwell 99 – Coalsack Nebula)
BrSO 14 (Caldwell 68 – R Corona Australis Nebula)
Veil West Sector DL-Y d68 (Caldwell 34 – Veil West Nebula)
North America Sector LC-V c2-3 (Caldwell 20 – North America Nebula)
Ploea The YQ-U d3-0 (Caldwell 1’s pre-entry point)
Leg 2
V785 Cephei (Caldwell 1)
NGC 188 SMV 4385 (Caldwell 1)
Leg 3
Bubble Sector PD-S B4-4 (Bubble Nebula)
Hypoae Ain MO-I d9-37 (Heart & Soul Nebulae)
BD+56 472 (Caldwell 14)
Leg 4
HD 15558 (IC 1805 Cluster)
BD+60 327 (Caldwell 10)
Leg 5
Kappa Cassiopeiae
NGC 457 124 (Caldwell 13)
S171 1 ([GMM2009] S171)
Leg 6
HD2002 Star 137 (Caldwell 19)
Leg 7
NGC 752 DLM 167a (Caldwell 28)
V518 Carinae (Caldwell 102)
J Centauri (Scorpius-Centaurus Association)
=====================
Each Leg will additionally have an announcement post when they start detailing any optional waypoints they may have added to them. Optional waypoints are subject to be added during the expedition up until the start of the leg.
For the “At the Eldritch Gate” expedition, Celebration of Early Astronomy will be basecamping at the Dehe PP-V d3-22 system. Here is a list of some real celestial objects of interest near the line between LAWD 26 and Dehe PP-V d3-22.
Dates
Start Date: July 10, 2022 End Date: September 10, 2022
Distances
Basecamp Line: 21,447 Ly Main Waypoints: 24,289 Ly
Map, (click for full size):
Basecamp: Dehe PP-V d3-22
Points of Interest
Map References quick reference list, more details below
LAWD 26
Kepler-186
Kepler-7
CSI+19-20201
KOI 3901
PSR J1959+2048
QZ Vulpeculae
Campbell’s Hydrogen Star
Dehe PP-V d3-22
Points of Interest Details
Map Reference: LAWD 26
This is where the “At the Eldritch Gate” expedition will be launching from
The first Earth-sized exoplanet to be discovered within the habitable zone of its star. Represented most closely in game by Kepler-186 5. In-game it is not terraformable for whatever reason, but the criteria otherwise matches the closest. The system also contains four other known exoplanets as well represented in-game by bodies 2 (Kepler 186c), 3 (Kepler-186d), 1 (Kepler-186b), and 4 (Kepler-186e).
Kepler-7b is the fourth of the first five exoplanets to be confirmed by the Kepler teelscope. It was the first new discovery by it as the first three were already known exoplanets used to confirm the telescope was working correctly. It is a “Hot Jupiter” orbiting close to its star and measured at a temperature of 1540K. The planet in-game representing this real exoplanet is Kepler-7 1.
This system contains a known exoplanet classified as KOI-3901.01 of roughly 40% the radius of Jupiter. (in game: KOI 3901 5 is the planet in the system matching the criteria)
Of interest to the At the Eldritch Gate expedition in particular is that the planet in question is a gas giant with Ammonia based life, which have the chance to be a green gas giant, so may actually be our giant. Or maybe not, but at the very least it’s an interesting real world planet.
Nicknamed “The Black Widow Pulsar”, PSR B1957+20 aka PSR J1959+2048 is an eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar discovered in 1988 by the Arecibo radio telescope with a rotation period of 1.6ms. It orbits with a companion super-jupiter brown dwarf with orbital period of 9.2 hours when it was discovered. At discovery it was hypothesised that the brown dwarf companion was being destroyed by the powerful outflow of high energy particles from the neutron star’s jet cones. As it is no longer there in 3308 this seems to have held true. It was the first known pulsar with this arrangement and is the namesake of the class of pulars known as spider pulsars. Black widow types having a companion brown dwarf, and redback types having companion red dwarfs.
Chandra X-Ray Telescope has also determined through observations of the system’s bow shock that is has a high speed across the galactic plane in comparison to most stars. Approximately 20 times as fast as our own solar system.
Discovered by the Ginga telescope in April 1988 when it produced an X-ray nova caused by matter falling in from it’s K class companion into the black hole classified as GS 2000+25. In 3308 it is found to also contain some other bodies, including a terrestrial planet with ammonia based life.
First discovered by William Wallace Campbell who noted it’s peculiar hydrogen-rich spectra. It was an at the time uncharted planetary nebula, and a member of the yet to be classified WC subclass of Wolf-Rayet stars. Do note that this system is fairly high from the galactic plane and may be difficult to reach for low jump range ships
We will officially be partaking as a squadron in the upcoming “At the Eldritch Gate” expedition starting on July 10, 2022.
We will officially be partaking as a squadron in the upcoming “At the Eldritch Gate” expedition starting on July 10, 2022.
It is a bit different than how CEA was run in that we followed a path. At the Eldritch Gate is more of a large area search, in this case for teh first found green gas giant that was discovered long ago, but the discoverer, not actually knowing what they had didn’t make note of what system it was in.
So Celebration of Early Astronomy, using CMDR NovakDrogo’s carrier will be basecamping and searching in and around waypoint 4: Dehe PP-V d3-22 which is 21,430.63 Ly mostly west and a little bit north-ish from “the bubble”
There is a small selection of real stars as well within 5,000 Ly from the Waypoint 4 system: HD 339279, PSR J2004+3137, PSR J1955+2908, HD 186438, & HD 227959
With the launch of fleet carrier interiors and the ability to have Vista Genomics aboard the carrier, now is a perfect time to do our first mini-expedition post CEA4. For this we will be revisiting Messier 67 to see what kind of new stuff is to be found there with Odyssey.
We will be running this expedition between Sunday, March 20, 2022 and Sunday, March 27, 2022. We will launch our carrier from our home system Keltim at 18:00 UTC on March 20, 2022 and plan to stay there for one week.
Messier 67 is a real star cluster, there are roughly 220 star systems in-game inside this cluster to explore, possibly even still lay first footfall on!
We visited Messier 67 originally during CEA2, earning the title as the first expedition to safely return from it, as this cluster is a one-way trip unless you have a fleet carrier to ride back out on, because you can neutron jump into it with a long enough base jump range, but no neutron jump within the cluster to jump back out from. Some other sights to see in the cluster include:
The Anaconda Graveyard: So while we lay claim as the first expedition to safely return from M67 with CEA2, we are not the first expedition to Messier 67. That title goes to Distant Stars expedition led by Erimus Kamzel of Distant Worlds fame. Due to the one way nature, and at the time only a specific Anaconda build having the range to make it inside with the neutron jump, all pilots had to “suicidewinder” back to the bubble so at the end they all did a group flight into the surface of a certain planet up in Messier 67.
Carrier only systems: There is also a set of systems up above and to the sides of Messier 67 even that are far enough apart from any other star that they can only be accessed by fleet carriers. At some point in this mini expedition we will make a run through these. Some of these were first discovered by us on CEA2. We will try and have the carrier run through these on Sunday, although may take into Monday depending on how much exploration there is to do in them and potentially exobiology to perform.
Important Anti-Stranding Note: as the carrier may at times move through systems that are so remote they can only be entered or left from via carrier, it is highly advised that you join our Discord server if you haven’t already and keep an eye on the #kezika channel for all updates so you know if it is “safe” to leave the carrier and when you will need to board the carrier.
If anyone gets stranded we will of course attempt rescue, however we would like to avoid this if at all possible as some of these carrier-only systems require multiple jumps even with the carrier to reach. For example, one such system is HIP 47507, however to get there we have to jump from a system in Messier 67 to HD 77587, then to HD 78726, then to HIP 46561, and finally to HIP 47507. So if you were to hypothetically get stranded in HIP 47507, it’ll take 4 carrier jumps to reach you and another 4 carrier jumps to get you back to the cluster, which is minimum 2 hours and 40 minutes that the carrier is out of the cluster and not accessible to others.
East India Company, in conjunction with Radio Sidewinder, Diamond Frogs, GalCop, C.E.A. Psychiatric and Simbad, are proud to present Elite Aid. This is to be a 24 hour long event starting at 12:00(Noon) UTC on 3/19/2022 (08:00 EST on 03/19/2022). During the event we will host a continuous live stream staffed by members from each gaming group. All proceeds will be donated to Do Good Fund: Ukraine Aid. While we expect the stream to be heavily filled with Elite Dangerous content, streamers will be allowed to stream any games they choose (you must operate within the Twitch streaming guidelines).
Our goal is to raise $2,500 or more to aid in humanitarian relief that is desperately needed in Ukraine. We will collect donations via Streamlabs Charity for the Do Good Fund: Ukraine Aid. We ask that all participants help promote the stream internally and across any other platforms they see fit.
You can sign up for a time slot by contacting EIC directly at our email (Elite.Aid@eicgaming.com) or on the Elite Aid discord. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the Twitch streaming service. During your streaming time please mention the charity several times and thank viewers who donate! Please avoid discussing politics and of course spoilers for any movies or T.V. shows during the stream.
All streams will be on the Elite Aid Twitch. Logins will be provided to all Streamers. Please join us at our Elite Aid discord here- Elite Aid Discord
We’ve now reached the fourth and final leg of Celebration of Early Astronomy 4 which will take us to sight near and in the “populated bubble” region of the game, and finally stopping off at our destination in T Tauri.
Dates
Start Date: February 19, 2022 End Date: March 05, 2022
This waypoint is for both a stellar cluster and a confirmed extrasolar planet. The stellar cluster IC 4756 is a bright stellar cluster in the Serpens constellation, bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. It is also known as Graff’s Cluster after astronomy Kasimir Graff. Additionally the system known as CoRoT-9 is located within this cluster and contains the confirmed extrasolar planet of CoRoT-9b (CoRoT-9 1 in-game). The CoRoT catalog is the result of a space telescope mission looking for extrasolar planets. Systems named in the CoRoT catalog will have confirmed extrasolar planets. — The SIMBAD Strabsourg link for CoRoT-9b is: https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%405278222&Name=CoRoT-9b and the SIMBAD Strasbourg link for IC 4756 is: https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=IC+4756
A blue supergiant visible from Earth by the naked eye. Also listed as a green system in case you need to restock on your FSD injection materials. Mammon Monitoring Facility is also near this location in the Mammon system.
Station near route from this waypoint to next: Mammon Monitoring Facility in Mammon
The Coronet Pulsar, cataloged as RX J1856.5-3754 and PSRJ1856-3754 is the closest known neutron star to our own solar system. It was hypothesised for a time to be a “quark star” a still hypothetical star type called a quark star because of early measurements erroneously gauging it as having a surface temperature of 700,000 Celsius. Later measurements more accurately showed a surface temperature of 434,000 Celsius, allowing it to fit back within the models for neutron stars.
The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a dark nebula of gas and dust that is located 1° south of the star ρ Ophiuchi of the constellation Ophiuchus. At an estimated distance of 131 ± 3 parsecs, it is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System
The 15th brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation. It is often referred to as The Heart of the Scorpion because of its distinct red hue when viewed with the naked eye. It is a red supergiant and among the largest known stars. It also has a companion star Antares B which is a typical B-class star
Shapley 1 was discovered in 1936 by Harlow Shapley, it is an annular planetary nebula viewed from Earth almost perfectly perpindicular. In reality it is determined that the central star is a white dwarf, however in-game it is represented by a Wolf-Rayet. This may be due to new data since the in-game galaxy was created.
The Coalsack Nebula is the most prominent dark nebula in the night sky from our solar system. It is easily visible to the naked eye as a fark patch obscuring a brief section of the Milky Way (as long as your skies are dark enough to see the Milky Way as a band.)
The Pleiades is an open star cluster of more than 800 stars location in the Taurus constellation of the night sky. The most prominent stars of it are the stars Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope. Then there are the two parent stars named after Atlas and Pleione off to the side from the other seven.
The automotive company Subaru is named after the Japanese name for this cluster as well as borrowing their logo as a stylized representation of the cluster as well.
40 Persei is a binary star system in the Perseus constellation. Bayer designation is o Persei, and Flamsteed designation is 40 Persei; “40 o Persei” is just Elite mashing up those two names for some reason. 40 Persues is a member of the Perseus OB2 association, which is a cluster of stars moving together, which also contains HD 21856, 38 Persei, HD 24131, X Persei, 44 Persei, and 46 Persei.
T Tauri is a variable star in the Taurus constellation, and the prototypical star of the T Tauri class of variable stars. It was discovered in October 1852 by John Russel Hind, after which it’s planetary nebula, the Hind Variable Nebula was also named. — Strangely enough despite being the prototype star of the T Tauri classe of stars, the in-game representation does not have them as T Tauri stars.
Map References quick reference list, more details below
HIP 102082
CoRoT-9
46 Upsilon Sagittarii
HD 175876
Snake Sector PD-S B4-1
PSR J1856-3754
IC 4604 Sector FB-X c1-17
Antares
Shapley 1
HIP 62270
PSR J1300+1240
StKM 1-442
Sol
LHS 200
Thuban
Alcyone
NGC 1333 IRS 2
GMM2008 22
WMW2010 59
40 o Persei
HIP 3289
T Tauri
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: HD 175876
AKA: Heaven’s Lathe
The bright O-type star HD 175876 has a companion neutron-star with a surprising feature: Extremely large rings. The effective radius of the rings are 12 light seconds, and it has a mass of 5.16 x 10^17 kg – slightly greater than Thebe, a small moon of Jupiter. As the neutron star has a radius on the order of 10km, this object has an exceptionally large ring size relative to the central body. These massive metal-rich rings would provide enough material for hundreds of years for any colony.
Where the first extrasolar planets were discovered in 1992. It is a millisecond pulsar with a rotation period of a mere 6.22 milliseconds (9,650 rpm), but was found to have slight anomalies in its rotational period, leading to investigations as to the cause of that. Those investigation led to the confirmation of the first planets found outside of our own solar system. In 1994 an additional planet was also found in orbit of this pulsar.
Too far to be reachable by most ships, is an optional waypoint as a result
Route to: This route was found by CMDR Merlinsan during this expedition and has been edited into this post, start at HD 112186.
To get back out, can Neutron Boost back to Ushott ZP-X D1-0 and then two jumps to CG-X where 60+ Ly ships should be able to proceed normally from.
StKM 1-442 is a binary star in the Stephenson K & M stellar catalog which focuses on K and M class main sequence stars. However in-game it is not accuratley displayed as a binary system.
If you have exploration data to sell, this is a system belonging to our own Player Minor Faction, C.E.A. Psychiatric Institutions Ltd. and selling exploration data here could help boost our influence here so that we can expand to further systems.
First discovered in 450 BC by Anaxagoras, Sol is a G-class main sequence star of exactly 1 solar mass and 1 solar radii. It also hosts a mostly harmless Earth-like world “Earth” as its third planets, containing sentient lifeforms known as humans. (although their sentience is sometimes questionable)
What we mean by discovered in 450 BC by Anaxagoras is that this they were first to propose that our Sun may be a star like the other ones in the sky. It was later again suggested by Aristarchus of Samos, but did not catch on until later on still.
Other important first discoveries in this system:
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: 2nd millenium BC by Babylonian astronomers. Used as evidence of the helicentric model by Aristarchus of Samos, and later in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus
Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa: 7th and 8th January 1610 by Galileo Galilei
Titan: Christiaan Huygens, 13 June 1655
Iapetus and Rhea: Giovanni Domenico Cassini, 25 October 1671 & 23 December 1672 respectively
Tethys & Dione: Giovanni Domenico Cassini, 21 March 1684, published in Kosmotheôros
Uranus: William Herschel: March 13, 1781
Titania & Oberon: William Herschel, January 11, 1787
Enceladus & Mimas: William Herschel, August 28, 1789 & September 17, 1789 respectively
Neptune: Johann Gottfried Galle & Urbain Le Verrier on September 23, 1846
Thuban, also known as Alpha Draconis is a binary star system in the Draco constellation. Thuban was Earth’s north star between 4th and 2nd millenium BC instead of Polaris.
LBN 623 Nebula, also known as IC63, is a dark purple emission nebula. It has also been called the Gamma Cassiopeiae nebula due to visual proximity of that bright star and the nebula as seen from old Earth.
Now we depart the Bubble Nebula and begin making our way back towards “The Bubble” while making a stop first at the Veil West Nebula as our next basecamp. Along the way visiting other points of interest.
Dates
Start Date: February 5, 2022 End Date: February 19, 2022
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Mu Cephei
KY Cygni
BD+41 4004
S171 43
Sadr
Veil West Sector DL-Y D68
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Mu Cephei
One of the largest red supergiants. Also known as Herschel’s Garnet Star. In the constellation Cepheus. Since 1943 the spectrum of this star has served as the M2 Ia standard by which other stars are classified. It is one of the largest known stars, and if it was placed in the center of our solar system would extend to between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn.
One of the top 10 largest known stars. If placed in the center of the solar system, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter. It is also quite close to the Crescent Nebula. It is estimated to go supernova within 2 million years.
Station nearby: Medusa’s Rock in Crescent Sector GW-W C1-8
The Jewel Bug Nebula, is a planetary nebula within the Cygnus constellation portion of the sky. It was discovered in 1878 by Édouard Stephan at Marseille Observatory. It is both one of the visually brightest planetary nebulae, as well as one of the smallest.
NGC 7822 is a star forming complex in the Cepheus constellation containing both the emission regions known as Sharpless 171 and Berkeley 59. The complex also includes one of the hottest stars discovered within 1 kiloparsec of our own solar system, BD+66 1673 (in game as HIP 139), which is an eclipsing binary system with an O5V spectral star with surface temperature over 45,000 Kelvin and a luminosity about 100,000 times that of our sun.
Sadr, also known as Gamma Cygni is a star in the Cygnus constellation, and forms the intersection of the Northern Cross asterism. It is the main star of a multi-star system designated WDS J20222+4015, with the secondary component being a binary pair designated CCDM J20222+4015BC. Sadr is a supergiant that is one of the brightest stars in the night sky with an apparent visual magnitude of 2.23. Compared to our own sun, it is 12 times as massive, 150 times the radius, and emitting 33,000 times the energy.
Designated as NGC 6960, a nebula in the Cygnus constellation and constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop. It is the remnants of a supernova. It is also sometimes referred to as the Cirrus Nebula or the Filamentary Nebula.
Additional viewing site suggestion: Veil West Sector PD-S B4-2, puts it nearly in line with Barnard’s Loop for a spectacular view.
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Mu Cephei
KOI 1701
KY Cygni
BD+41 4004
Oochody AA-Y c17-1
NGC 40 Star
9 i Persei
S171 43
Sadr
Alpha Cygni
Veil West Sector DL-Y D68
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: KOI 1701
POI: KOI-1071.01
The first planet in this system is KOI-1701-01 is an extrasolar planet candidate around the KOI-1701 star. In the Elite: Dangerous in-game galaxy it is, as of September 2021 the highest gravity landable planet known in the in-game galaxy at 45.32G, If you go to land on this planet, use EXTREME caution.
NGC 40, also known as the Bow-Tie Nebula (but not to be confused with the Bow Tie Nebula) is a planetary nebula sicovered by William Herschel in 1788. The central carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star is one of the hottest known stars with a surface temperature over 50,000 degrees Celsius. About 30,000 years from now, the star will die leaving behind a white dwarf approximately the size of Earth.
Perseus OB1 is an OB association (clusters of 10 to 100 massive O or B spectral class stars, along with hundreds to thousands of other lower spectral class stars) in the Perseus constellation, containing the clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884. 9 Persei (Flamsteed Designation) also known by Bayer Designation of i Persei is the brightest member of the OB association.
(Note: “9 i Persei” is not a proper reference to the star, but Elite does this weird thing at time whereit smashes together a star’s Bayer and Flamsteed designations like that)
The brightest star in the Cygni constellation, and 19th brightest star in the night sky. It represents the tail of the swan in the Cygnus constellation. This star is the star ionizing the North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula. Was also featured multiple times in the science fiction series Star Trek, most notably in the first ever episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
We are now launching into our second of 4 legs for Celebration of Early Astronomy 4! This leg doesn’t have too many main waypoints, but there is still plenty to explore in and around each of the places represented by the main waypoints.
Additionally there are some optional waypoints to visit for those interested in the lore of the game’s universe, particularly that of the shadowy group known as “The Club.”
Dates
Start Date: January 22, 2022 End Date: February 5, 2022
Map References quick reference list, more details below
BD+46 1067
Hypoae Ain MO-I D9-37
RS Persei
Bubble Sector LX-T B3-1
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: BD+46 1067
POI: IC 2149
IC 2149 is a planetary nebula around the star BD+46 1067, discovered by Williamina Felming in 1906. It is located in the sky from Earth within the Auriga constellation. It is hypothesized that the plantery nebula that our own sun will eventually make will be very similar to this particular one. If you are having trouble leaving this waypoint, you can route to IC 2149 Sector DL-Y d0, which is a neutron star. You can route to the next waypoint from there. Note that you may need Jumponium for this.
This is a pair of nebulae very close to each other. First is the Heart Nebula, aka IC 1805. An emission nebula in the Persues Arm of the Mily Way, and in the Cossiopeia constellation of the sky. Within the nebula is a bright open cluster of stars known as Collinder 26 and contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our sun, as well as many more dim stars. The size of the nebula in the night sky is nearly 2 degrees of arc, making it nearly four times the size in the night sky as the full moon.
The second nebula is the Soul Nebula, also known as Westerhout 5. It is also an emission nebula like the Heart Nebula. Near the nebula in the night sky can also be seen the galaxies Maffei 1 and Maffei 2 of the Maffei Group. Soul Nebula is one of the most studied nebula in the field of star formation, due to it’s angle to us and ease of seeing the gas cavities and stellar formation areas allowing sceintists to easily see how gas cavities formed from the stellar winds of a star’s birth compress gasses together from other cavities leading to a chain reaction of stellar formation.
Multiple SIMBAD Links are relevant to this waypoint:
Red Supergiant located in the Double Cluster (Caldwell 14) in the Perseus constellation. In the game galaxy version it is orbited by a landable planet so close that you can fuel scoop while in orbital flight.
There is a bountiful count of other real world celestial objects nearby as well.
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635 is an emission nebula in the Cassiopeia region of the sky. It is formed from stellar wind from the central star BD+60 2522. (For whatever reason however in the in-game galaxy it placed that star nearly 5,000 Ly away from the bubble nebula)
While BD+60 2522 is around two million years old, the Bubble Nebula is only about 40,000 years old. It is hypothesised that the bubble formed as a shock front where stellar wind meets interstellar material at supersonic speeds as the wind from the star travels outwards at between 1,800 to 2,500 kilometers per second.
Multiple SIMBAD links are relevant to this waypoint:
The Zurara is a lore related abandoned megaship located out here in the Formidine Rift. This can be a bit of a detour from the main leg but if it is of interest to you it’s worth the trip while you’re already in the area. It is related to the lore of the shadowy “The Club.”
Stars become rather sparse along the route from Heart & Soul Nebulae to this system, so make sure you have adequate jump range to make the journey.
Welcome to the first leg of our fourth expedition! In this leg we will be beginning to travel southward through the Orion Nebula and Barnard’s Loop regions and finishing up at the Crab Nebula.
Dates
Start Date: January 8, 2022 End Date: January 22, 2022
The system where the real world and the Elite: Dangerous procedurally generated galaxy collided with each other. In early 2017 astronomers discovered seven approximately Earth-sized rocky exoplanets in orbit of Trappist-1. Three of which were within the habitable zone of this ultra-cool red dwarf star roughly 39.5 light years from Earth. Players of Elite: Dangerous quickly realized that there was a system in roughly the correct location called Core Sys Sector XU-P A5-0 at 42 Ly from Sol that happened to be a brown dwarf, not much colder than the red dwarf named Trappist-1 with seven terrestrial worlds around it. The system was officially tweaked to be a red dwarf and renamed to Trappist-1 for the 2.3 update.
Ninth brightest star in the night sky, and second brightest in the constellation Orion. Red supergiant of spectral type M1-2, one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. This star is one of the shoulders of Orion.
The easternmost star of Orion’s Belt, a very recognizable landmark in the night sky. There is a POI there named “Impressive Rings” on one of the other stars in the system.
Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion. It is expected to eventually end in supernova. Additionally it has two known companions Rigel B and Rigel C. However in-game it only seems to have Rigel B.
The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae in the night sky and is visible to the naked eye. It is also the closest region of massive star formation to our solar system. One of the most photographed objects in the night sky, and subject of intense study.
For those looking to dock to repair, refuel, and/or sell exploration data, there is also a starport located here in the PMD2009 48 system called the “Orion Nebula Tourist Center.”
Three SIMBAD Strasbourg links are relevant to this waypoint:
The largest known star at the time of the in-game galaxy’s creation. There have been larger stars, such as UY Scuti discovered since, but they do not appear in the game. At this time this is the largest known star in the in-game galaxy. It is a red hypergiant located in the constellation of Canis Major. If it was placed in the center of our solar system, its surface would extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter at the least. There is still considerable variation regarding the true radius of VY Canis Majoris, some estimates even have it large enough to extend past the orbit of Saturn.
NGC 2359 (also known as Thor’s Helmet) is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) away and 30 light-years in size. The central star is the Wolf-Rayet star WR7 (aka: ALS 299), an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. It is similar in nature to the Bubble Nebula, but interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to the more complex shape and curved bow-shock structure of Thor’s Helmet.
Multiple SIMBAD Links are relevant to this waypoint:
ALS 299: http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=ALS+299&submit=submit+id
NGC 2359: https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=NGC+2359
The Crab Pulsar (PSR B0531+21) is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054.[4][5][6] Discovered in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant.
Multiple SIMBAD Links are relevant to this waypoint:
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Keltim
W Ursae Majoris
TRAPPIST-1
Betelgeuse
Mintaka
Alnitak
Rigel
PMD2009 48
Trapezium Sector CB-W C2-3
Trapezium Sector VY-A C8
Epsilon Orionis
VY Canis Majoris
V651 Monoceros
ALS 299
CXOU J061705.3+222127
Crab Pulsar
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: W Ursae Majoris
W Ursae Majoris is a binary star near to our departure point. It is too faint to see with the naked eye, but it can be viewed with the assistance of a telescope. (There is an unlockable EDSM badge for visiting here)
Messier 78 is a nebula in the Barnard’s Loop area, blue and black in colouration. It is a reflection Nebula discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and then included by Charles Messier in his catalog that members of are now referred to as Messier objects. This object was also featured in the 1960s era Japanese anime Ultraman as the location of “The Land of Light” that acted as the homeworld of the Ultramen.
Also known as Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion, located just south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt, and is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. It appears in the southern region of the LDN 1630 dust cloud.
Trapezium Sector VY-A C5 is the closest system with the correct viewing angle of the Horsehead Nebula that can be reached due to the Horsehead Dark Region being permit locked.
Multiple SIMBAD Links are relevant to this waypoint:
The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth’s night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust.
Text credit with photograph: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2526.html
Multiple SIMBAD Strasbourg links are relevant to this waypoint:
“The early 2000s, they were often the speculative setting of early science fiction works. Early imaginings of interstellar travel, first contact with aliens, apocalypses, pandemics, you name it, there was probably a movie or book set in the early 21st century of it. While humanity may not have invented interstellar travel by 2020 as many novels and films purported, they still discovered plenty gems of our galaxy by then.
Lucky for us in 3308 we do have interstellar travel and can visit these gems that humans on Earth in the early 21st century could only dream of visiting. So that is just what we will be setting out to do. This expedition will visit many of the noteworthy celestial objects discovered by the early 21st century, some of which even still are considered noteworthy even today in 3308.
We will be setting off from our faction’s home system Keltim, also known as Gliese 149 to the humans of 2020. From there we will be travelling our route clockwise. Many of the sights on this expedition revisit those featured on earlier CEA expeditions for those that weren’t on those.
Please fill out a sign-up form if you’re coming along! Note: even if you’re not sure yet all your details, the form will give you an edit link once you submit so that you can come back and edit your submission in the future with any changes you make. Just make sure to save your link!
Dates: January 08, 2022 to March 05, 2022 Waypoint Count: 35 Distance: 39,335.54 Ly Expedition Discord: https://theexpedition.info/Discord
Odyssey Compatibility Notes: With Horizons and Odyssey at this time currently split and some people not having Odyssey we will do basecamps in Horizons if needed. There is a private question on the registration form regarding if you have Odyssey or not. When we announce basecamps the bot in our server will make a post that you can RSVP to if you plan on coming. We will cross-reference the attendee list with the Roster to make the determination of if the basecamp needs otbe help in Horizons or if only Odyssey compatible players are attending that particular one.
===================== Current Waypoint List (each leg is 2 weeks) =====================
Leg 1
Keltim (GL 149)
TRAPPIST-1
Betelgeuse
Mintaka
Alnitak
Rigel
PMD2009 48 (Orion Nebula)
Epsilon Orionis
VY Canis Majoris
ALS 299 (Thor’s Helmet Nebula)
CXOU J061705.3+222127 (Jellyfish Nebula)
Crab Pulsar (Crab Nebula)
Leg 2
BD+46 1067
Hypoae Ain MO-I D9-37 (Heart & Soul Nebulae)
RS Persei
Bubble Sector LX-T B3-1 (Bubble Nebula)
Leg 3
Mu Cephei
KY Cygni
BD+41 4004 (NGC 7027)
S171 43 (NGC 7822)
Sadr
Veil West Sector DL-Y D68 (Veil West Nebula)
Leg 4
HIP 102082
CoRoT-9 (CoRoT-9b)
46 Upsilon Sagittarii
Snake Sector PD-S B4-1 (Snake Nebula)
PSR J1856-3754 (Coronet Pulsar)
IC 4604 Sector FB-X c1-17 (Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex)
Antares
Shapley 1 (Fine Ring Nebula)
HIP 62270 (Coalsack Nebula)
Alcyone (The Pleiades)
GMM2008 22 (NGC 1333)
40 o Persei
T Tauri (Hind Nebula)
=====================
Each Leg will additionally have an announcement post when they start detailing any optionals they may have added to them. Optional waypoints are subject to be added during the expedition up until the start of the leg.
