CEA3 Leg 3

CMDR Kezika

It is now time for the third leg of Celebration of Early Astronomy, and this is the one that passes near Colonia for those interested in visiting it, or “getting out of the black” for a little bit.

Dates

Start Date: July 24, 2021
End Date: August 7, 2021

Distances

Basecamp Line: 17,474.22 Ly
Main Waypoints: 8,999.86 Ly
Optional Waypoints: 19,385.95 Ly

Map, (click for full size):

Basecamp: 15 Sagittarii

Main Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • XTE J1856+053
    • PSR J1852+0031
    • AXP 1E1841-045
    • 15 Sagittarii

Main Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: XTE J1856+053
    • POI: INTREF 948
    • XTE J1856+053, also known as INTREF 948 is a transient X-Ray binary that was observed with higher than usual outbursts in 1996 and 2007.
    • Extra Note: This was also included as an Optional Waypoint on Leg 2 as well, so you may have already visited this in Leg 2 possibly.
  • Map Reference: PSR J1852+0031
    • This is a pulsar discovered and studied by the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey
  • Map Reference: AXP 1E1841-045
    • AXP 1E1841-045 is ananomalous x-ray pulsar , thought to be a magnetar, located within the Kes-73 supernova remnants.
    • SIMBAD Link
    • EDSM Link
  • Map Reference: 15 Sagittarii
    • 15 Sagittarii is a double-lined spectroscopic binary star system matching the profile of a massive O-type supergiant star. It ionizes the H II region along the western edge of the molecular cloud L291 along with an I-type star 16 Sagittarii (not in game)
    • SIMBAD Link

Optional Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • XTE J1856+053
    • V1343 Aquilae
    • TT Aquilae
    • PSR J1852+0031
    • PSR J1905+0154A
    • PSR J1905+0154B
    • AXP 1E1841-045
    • Far Tauri
    • Tisdar’s Retreat
    • 15 Sagittarii

Optional Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: V1343 Aquilae
    • POI: SS 433
    • SS 433, also known as V1343 Aquilae is the first ever discovered microquasar. It is an eclipsing X-ray binary system with the main star most likely a black hole and the spectrum of the companion star suggests it to be a late life A-type star. However there are speculations that the main star might actually be a neutron star and not a black hole.
    • SIMBAD Link
    • EDSM Link
  • Map Reference: TT Aquilae
    • TT Aquilae is a yellow-white supergiant Classical Cepheid Variable star in the Aquilae constellation. Classical Cepheid variable stars are young stars that exhibit radial pulsations with a periods between a few days to few weeks and visual amplitude fluctuations from a few tenths to up to 2 magnitudes worth.
    • SIMBAD Link
    • EDSM Link
  • Map Reference: PSR J1905+0154A
    • A pair of pulsars that are a double star, interestingly though in the in-game galaxy the two systems have the same exact coordinates.
  • Map Reference: PSR J1905+0154B
    • POI: V408 Vulpeculae
    • A pair of pulsars that are a double star, interestingly though in the in-game galaxy the two systems have the same exact coordinates. This system has the star V408 Vulpeculae in it which is a Classical Cepheid Variable star discovered in 1898 at the Potsdam Observatory by Gustav Müller and Paul Kempf. A study in 1991 revealed that V408 Vulpeculae is a spectroscopic binary. In 1996 it was calculated that it has an orbital period of 2510 days with it’s binary companion star. It’s companion star is invisible from earth and is only known from its effect on the motion of V408 Vulpeculae.
    • SIMBAD Link to PSR J1905+0154B
    • SIMBAD Link to V408 Vulpeculae
    • EDSM Link
  • Map Reference: Far Tauri
    • POI: (NBORO) Colonia Region
    • Far Tauri is Simbad Regime’s Colonia faction’s main base within the Colonia region. If you have exploration data to sell at this point in the expedition, selling to the settlement Chaydar Correctional in this system would be appreciated!
  • Map Reference: Tisdar’s Retreat
    • POI: (NBORO) Tisdar’s Retreat
    • This is a system that in patch 3.3.0.2 Frontier Developments renamed to Tisdar’s Retreat for some unspecified reason.

CEA 4 Sneak Peek

CMDR Kezika

This is all a work in progress, but here is some of the work being done towards planning the fourth Celebration of Early Astronomy expedition.

For CEA 4 we are looking at a start date sometime in January or February 2022. In regards to the route we are looking to rehash some of the waypoints that were visited on CEA 1 & 2, as well as some new ones as well.

For a visual reference, here is a map chart showing the routes of all of the CEA expeditions, as well as the current in-progress route for CEA4. Note that I intend to add some more sights from the “northeast” area of CEA2 to the CEA4 route as well.

  • CEA1: Blue
  • CEA2: Orange
  • CEA3: Green
  • CEA4: Red

CEA3 Leg 2

CMDR Kezika

The first leg of Celebration of Early Astronomy 3 has been completed and with that we launch the second leg of the expedition! Here are the details!

Dates

Start Date: July 17, 2021
End Date: July 24, 2021

Distances

Basecamp Line: 6,641.65 Ly
Main Waypoints: 7,546.05 Ly
Optional Waypoints: 9,436.09 Ly

Map, (click for full size):

Leg 2 Map

Basecamp: PSR J1902+0615

Main Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • PSR J1926+1648
    • PSR J1915+1009
    • PSR J1902+0615

Main Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: PSR J1926+1648
    • This is a pulsar over in the “western” part of the galaxy, discovered and studied by Arecibo Radio Telescope around 2008.
  • Map Reference: PSR J1915+1009
    • PSR J1915+1009 is a pulsar in the “western” portion of the galaxy that has been studied due to having “diverse polarization angle swings.”
    • SIMBAD Link
    • EDSM Link
  • Map Reference: PSR J1902+0615
    • PSR J1902+0615 is a pulsar in the “western” part of the galaxy that was discovered by the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey.
    • SIMBAD Link
    • EDSM Link

Optional Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • PSR J1926+1648
    • PSR J1915+1009
    • HD 174372
    • XTE J1856+053
    • PSR J1902+0615

Optional Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: HD 174372
    • HD 1774372 is a spectral type B main sequence star. One of the furthest westward non-procedural main sequence stars in the in-game galaxy. It seems by my database that HD 235643 would be the actual furthest westward non-procedural main sequence star in the in-game galaxy.
  • Map Reference: XTE J1856+053
    • This is a low mass X-Ray binary discovered in 1996 and then studied again on and around 28 February 2007 for a new outburst. It is believed based on the low temperature accretion disk that a black hole is the object with the accretion disk.

CEA3 Leg 1

CMDR Kezika

With the official launch of Celebration of Early Astronomy 3, here is the full information for Leg 1 of the expedition!

Start Date: July 3, 2021
End Date: July 17, 2021

Map, (click for full size):

Leg 1 Map

Basecamp: Merrill’s Star

Main Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • Keltim
    • BD+06 3756
    • CoRoT-9
    • R Scuti
    • CoRoT-27
    • NGC 6755 MMU 3
    • HD 181709
    • HD 339086
    • Merrill’s Star

Main Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: Keltim
    • POI: GL 149
    • Our faction’s home system, Keltim is also the real binary star pair known as GL 149, containing the stars CD-24 1826 and WT 1402.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: BD+06 3756
    • POI: NGC 6633 48
    • Chemically peculiar star in IC 4756, more info on IC 4756 in next listed waypoint
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: CoRoT-9
    • POI: IC 4756 & CoRoT-9b
    • 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
  • Map Reference: R Scuti
    • R Scuti is the brightest known of the RV-Tau-Type stars, and is also a yellow supergiant. It is located in the sky within the Scutum constellation. It’s brightness varies and is visibe to the naked eye at ti’s brightest, and visible with telescope or binoculars when it is dimmer.

      RV Tauri variables often have somewhat irregular light curves, both in amplitude and period, but R Scuti is extreme. It has one of the longest periods known for an RV Tau variable, and the light curve has a number of unusual features: occasional extreme minima; intermittent standstills with only small erratic variation that may last for years; and periods of chaotic brightness changes.

      For more information regarding the peculiarities of R Scuti you can check out it’s page on Wikipedia for a brief overview of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_Scuti
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: CoRoT-27
    • POI: CoRoT-27b (exoplanet)
    • CoRoT-27b is a confirmed exoplanet of around the size of Jupiter orbiting close to the star CoRoT-27
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: NGC 6755 MMU 3
    • POI: NGC 6755
    • NGC 6755 is an open cluster of stars within the constellation Aquila
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: HD 181709
    • HD 181709 is one of the brighter stars within the confines of the Aquila constellation, however not quite bright enough for naked eye observation. It is a B-class star.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: HD 339086
    • A B-class type star within the confines of the Vulpecula constellation
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: Merrill’s Star
    • Also known as WR 124 and/or QR Sagittae, it is a Wolf-Rayet type star discovered in 1938 by Paul W. Merrill. Besides being a Wolf-Rayet it is also surrounded by the planetary nebula M1-67, and is one of the fastest runaway stars known in the Milky Way Galaxy with a radial velocity of about 200 km/s
    • SIMBAD Link

Optional Waypoints

  • Map References quick reference list, more details below
    • Keltim
    • Alpha Cygni
    • Veil West Sector DL-Y d68
    • IC 4665 P 351
    • BD+06 3756
    • CoRoT-6
    • CoRoT-9
    • Nu Aquilae
    • CoRoT-16
    • CoRoT-17
    • Y Ophiuchi
    • R Scuti
    • Trifid Sector DL-Y d157
    • CoRoT-27
    • NGC 6755 MMU 3
    • HD 181709
    • PSR J1901+0716
    • HD 339086
    • Campbell’s Hydrogen Star
    • Merrill’s Star

Optional Waypoints Details

  • Map Reference: Alpha Cygni
    • AKA: Deneb
    • 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.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: Veil West Sector DL-Y d68
    • POI: Veil Nebula West
    • 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.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: IC 4665 P 351
    • IC 4665, also known as Collinder 349 and/or Melotte 179 is an open cluster. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745. It is a very young cluster, having begun development “only” 40 million years ago. Lying only about 1,400 lightyears from our solar system it can easily be found with telescopes or binoculars, and in a dark enough sky may even be spottable with the naked eye. It is the brightest stellar cluster that wasn’t catalogued by Charles Messier or William Herschel.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: CoRoT-6
    • POI: CoRoT-6b (exoplanet)
    • CoRoT-6b is a confirmed extrasolar planet.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: Nu Aquilae
    • Nu Aquilae is a double star in the constellation Aquila that lies close to the celestial equator. It is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: CoRoT-16
    • POI: CoRoT-16b (exoplanet)
    • CoRoT-16b, like the other CoRoT waypoints is a confirmed extrasolar planet.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: CoRoT-17
    • POI: CoRoT-17b (exoplanet)
    • CoRoT-17b, like the other CoRoT waypoints is a confirmed extrasolar planet.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: Y Ophiuchi
    • Y Ophiuchi is a supergiant pulsating Delta Cepheid variable type, which means that its size changes over time. With a maginatude between 6.476 and 6.009 it should be visiblet o the naked eye in fairly dark skies. It’s pulsation period is 17.1 days in length.
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: Trifid Sector DL-Y d157
    • POI: Trifid Nebula
    • While the in-game representation of the nebula is not a handcrafted one, and not representative of how it looks in reality, the Trifid Nebula, AKA Messier 20 is a combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula, and a dark nebula. The most massive star in the Trifid Nebula is HD 164492A, an O-class star with a mass more than 20x that of our sun (although not in-game).

      CMDR Henry Killinger has noted that there are unique NSPs in the following three systems within this area as well: Trifid Sector FW-W d1-233, Trifid Sector DL-Y d157, Trifid Sector BQ-Y d244
    • SIMBAD Link
  • Map Reference: PSR J1901+0716
  • Map Reference: Campbell’s Hydrogen Star
    • Also known as HD 184738, Campbell’s Hydrogen Star is a Wolf-Rayet type star at the center of a planetary nebula. It is named after astronomer William Wallace Campbell who discovered it in 1893.
    • SIMBAD Link

Waypoint System Changes in CEA3

CMDR Kezika

The shape of the routes for CEA1 and CEA2 could at times be described as a bit jagged. However with the help of a database of non-procedural systems created for me by CMDR Waterlubber of Simbad Regime and a spreadsheet tool I made for myself I have been able to do more focused searching of waypoints. This resulted in a relatively smoother line for CEA3. As such certain changes have been implemented to what each tier of our waypoints mean than what we had in the previous expeditions.

For those new to Celebration of Early Astronomy those tiers are:

  • Basecamp
  • Main
  • Optionals

Below I will outline what each one means now with CEA3

Basecamp Waypoints

  • Brief: Basecamp waypoints are the bookends of each leg of the expedition.
  • EDSM: These are the waypoints that will be listed on our expedition’s EDSM page. (In the past Main waypoints were also listed, this has changed and only Basecamps will be listed now)
  • Finalization: These are all finalized before the expedition even begins, they are all finalized as of this post.
  • Reality: All Basecamp waypoints are based on real celestial objects. That means either the system is based on a real star or is within the confines of a real nebula or star cluster.
  • Routing: The route between these waypoints should be quite sensible and smooth.
  • Reachability: All basecamp waypoints should be reachable to a 35 Ly jump range ship as far as I am aware, at the very least with minor FSD Injection, but probably won’t even need that.

Main Waypoints

  • Brief: Main Waypoint are along a fairly smooth route between basecamps, set in stone pre-expedition, and featuring sights based on real celestial objects. Basically they are more like how optionals used to be in CEA 1 and 2.
  • EDSM: Main waypoints are not listed on the EDSM route. This is a change from the past.
  • Finalization: Main waypoints are finalized prior to the expedition
  • Reality: Main waypoints are all based on real celestial objects. That means either the system is based on a real star or is within the confines of a real nebula or star cluster.
  • Routing: The route between these waypoints should be quite sensible and smooth.
  • Reachability: All Main Waypoints should be reachable by a ship and not require a fleet carrier. I make no guarantees as to range minimums however.

Optional Waypoints

  • Brief: Optionals are larger detours from the main line between basecamps, and are not always based on real celestial objects (but generally will be still). Unlike previous expeditions, these may experience changes throughout the expedition.
  • EDSM: Optional waypoints are not listed on the EDSM route.
  • Finalization: Optional waypoints are only finalized once the leg they are part of has begun. Additions to the list of Optionals for a particular leg may change up until the day the leg begins.
  • Reality: While generally they will be, not all will be based on real celestial objects. There may be sites (such as Colonia for example) listed that are of significant interest, but “Not Based on Real Object” (NBORO) any Optional Waypoints like that will be prefixed in the waypoints list with (NBORO) to indicate this.
  • Routing: Optional waypoints will be placed between main waypoints where sensible, however I can make no guarantee as to the sensibility or smoothness of the route between optional waypoints themselves. The order as listed in announcement may include some backtracking.
  • Reachability: All Optional Waypoints should be reachable at least by carrier. If for some reason something gets on there that absolutely is not reachable at all let me know, but I make effort not to include such systems.

Waypoint List Releases

With the mention above about Optional Waypoints not being finalized until a leg begins you might be wondering how those are announced. The full list of waypoints for each leg, including Optionals will be released both in a post here on the official site, as well as with an announcement in the Discord server linking to that post.

Celebration of Early Astronomy 3!

CMDR Kezika

Dates: July 3, 2021 to October 2, 2021

Map (click for full size):

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“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 3307 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 3307.

We will be setting of 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. After that we shall proceed northward past Colonia region and the galactic center, and then take a route back home visiting such places as Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center on the way back.

— Patron Kezika T. Wylair

==============================================================

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!

Sign-up form: https://expedition.page.link/Register
Roster: https://expedition.page.link/Roster
EDSM Page: https://expedition.page.link/EDSM

==============================================================

Summary and Information

Dates: July 3, 2021 to October 2, 2021
Waypoint Count:26 Primary, optionals to be added as expedition progresses
Expedition Discord: https://expedition.page.link/Discord

Notes: Some of the legs, mainly the ones north of the Galactic Centre have minimal waypoints and are self-guided exploration mainly, due to the lack of real-world objects in those areas. One of the waypoints we are heading to is the furthest north non-procedural star so far found in the in-game galaxy.

Odyssey Compatibility Notes: With the servers split, main events such as mass jumps and parties will be held in Horizons. Some waypoints may additionally have a secondary Odyssey event, but all waypoints will at least have the mass jump event as well as the ending party occurring in Horizons.

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Waypoints

Start: Keltim
End: T Tauri

=====================
Current Waypoint List
=====================

Leg 1

7/3/2021 – 7/17/2021 (2 weeks)

  • Keltim (Gliese 149)
  • BD+06 3756 (NGC 6633 48)
    • Optional: IC 4665 P 351
    • Optional: CoRoT-6
    • Optional: CoRoT-9
    • Optional: CoRoT-16
    • Optional: Y Ophiuchi
    • Optional: CoRoT-17
    • Optional: Nu Aquilae
  • R Scuti
  • CoRoT-27
  • NGC 6755 MMU 3
  • HD 181709
    • Optional: PSR J1901+0716
  • HD 339086
    • Optional: Campbell’s Hydrogen Star
  • Merrill’s Star

Leg 2

7/17/2021 – 7/24/2021 (1 week)

  • PSR J1926+1648
  • PSR J1915+1009
    • Optional: HD 174372
  • PSR J1902+0615

Leg 3

7/24/2021 – 8/7/2021 (2 weeks)

  • XTE J1856+053
  • PSR J1852+0031
  • AXP 1E1841-045
  • 15 Sagittarii

Leg 4

8/7/2021 – 8/21/2021 (2 weeks)

  • 13 Mu Sagittarii
  • HD 158320 — (furthest north known non-procedural in the game)

Leg 5

8/21/2021 – 9/4/2021 (2 weeks)

  • PSR J1740-3052
  • G2 Dust Cloud Sector JH-V C2-7255 – (G2 Dust Cloud)

Leg 6

9/4/2021 – 9/18/2021 (2 weeks)

  • Sagittarius A*
  • Great Annihilator
  • IGR J17285-2922
  • HD 157693

Leg 7

9/18/2021 – 10/2/2021

  • Cl Pismis 24 1
  • Hen 2-215
  • T Tauri

=====================

This post will be edited and replied to in the upcoming weeks with more substantial information regarding the waypoints as well as any tertiary information that would be useful for the expedition, such as navigation tips around permit locked sectors for example in the Barnard’s Loop area.

=====================

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Welcome to C.E.A!

CMDR Kezika

Hello! We are an Elite: Dangerous expedition series focusing on real-world celestial objects in the in-game Elite: Dangerous galaxy. Additionally outside of expeditions we have an in-game player minor faction based out of the Keltim system, and themed around “Space Madness” treatment.

Most of our planning, coordination, and discussion happen on our Discord server, which can be found at https://theexpedition.info/Discord feel free to join us there if you have any questions or need assistance!