We being leg 4 of Celebration of Early Astronomy 6, which is the last single week length leg of the expedition. We have a few more real celestial objects along this leg. The legs after this one will be two weeks in length and focus on discovering new noteworthy points of interest in the eastern reaches of the galaxy.
Dates
Start Date: January 28, 2024 End Date: February 04, 2024
Map References quick reference list, more details below
NGC 3199 Sector LC-V c2-5
OGLE-TR-211
AG Carinae
GU Muscae
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: NGC 3199 Sector LC-V c2-5
POI: NGC 3199
NGC 3199, also known as The Banana Nebula is an emission nebula in the Carina constellation region of the sky. It was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826. It was originally thought to be a bow shock of it’s central star WR 18, but has since been determined to have been formed due to the composition of local space, not the star’s movement.
OGLE-TR-211b is a known exoplanet, a hot Jupiter in a very close orbit with it’s parent star OGLE-TR-211. It is estimated to be slightly more massive than Jupiter. at 1.03±0.2 Jupiter masses.
AG Carinae is luminous blue variable star in the Carinae constellation region of the sky, and is one of the most luminous stars in our galaxy. However, due to it’s distance of roughly 20,000 lightyears from our solar system, all the stellar dust between us and it makes it generally not visible to the naked eye despite how bright of a star it is. The star has a planetary nebula of material that has been ejected from the star. It is in a transitional period going from being a class O supergiant star to becoming a Wolf-Rayet star.
There has been some recent data grom the Gaia mission however suggesting that AG Carinae may actually be close to our own solar system than the previously believed 20,000 lightyears, but it is still up for debate which value is the accurate value.
GU Muscae, also known as Nova Muscae 1991, as well as GRS 1124-683 is a star system containing a black hole candidate. The system was discovered by both the Russian Granat satellite and Japanese Ginga satellite on January 9, 1991 when the system produced an outburst of x-rays. The black hole is estimated to be 7 times as massive as our sun with a companion star it is taking material from that is three-quarters the mass of our sun. The companions star likely was a more massive star before, but has its outer layers blown away by the supernova that resulted in the creation of the black hole.
Map References quick reference list, more details below
HD 92023
NGC 3199 Sector LC-V c2-5
Smoju DA-Q d5-2
OGLE-TR-211
AG Carinae
GU Muscae
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Smoju DA-Q d5-2
POI: Smoj Crystal Fields
The Smoj Crystal Fields, while not a real celestial system, are worth a visit if you would like. Many systems around this system contain Notable Stellar Phenomena points of interest containing icy and metallic crystals of various varieties. Refer to the EDSM page for this system for the full list of nerby systems with NSPs.
There are a few optional waypoints on this leg as well as the two main waypoints. The gaps between waypoints at times have a long distance between them so feel free to explore in those gaps and looks for any other cool points of interest and sights to see that may be suitable for submission to the Galactic Exploration Catalog!
Dates
Start Date: January 21, 2023 End Date: January 28, 2023
HIP 51899 is a giant star located in the Carina constellation region. It is an M class star (although shown in game as K for some reason), and one of the colder known main squence stars in the universe at a temperature between 2,400 and 3,700 Kelvin based on it’s M1II spectral type.
Map References quick reference list, more details below
PCYC 17
DETWC Tr 14 J104348.8-593236
206 G. Carinae
GCRV 6432
HD 92023
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: PCYC 17
POI: Pan-Carina YSO Catalog
The PCYC catalog is a survey of 1,439 young stellar objects in the Carina complex. This is one star of many in this region that is listed in game via their PCYC catalog number. This star like many others of this catalog have only been cataloged by this specific survey.
DETWC Tr 14 J104348.8-593236 is a young star in the NGC 3372 cluster. It also appears to be the only DETWC catalog (De Gioia-Eastwood+Throop+Walker+Cudworth) star in the in-game galaxy. I’m adding it as an optional waypoint as a curiosity to see what is there. There are a fair few other real stars in the 2MASS and PCYC catalgs around this star system as well.
This appears to be some sort of mix-up by the stellar forge with information. The main name this is listed as is 206 G. Carinae, however it lists the HIPP as 51623 and HD as 91533. HIP 51623/HD 91533 is a different star than G Carinae, and there is not a star known as 206 Carinae. (The game’s habit of sometimes smashing together a star’s Bayer and Flamsteed designations into one) Additionally GIP 51623 does not have an official Carinae based Flamsteed or Bayer designation at all.
In any case, the stellar data besides the name does match with HIP 51623, which is a real star in the Alessi 5 open cluster. That said is seems to be the only star from that cluster represented in the in-game galaxy. It is a little under halfway through the distance of the leg.
As we head out away from NGC 3590, we make our way out and through the Eta Carina Nebula as we make our way further east through the Carina constellation of the night sky.
Dates
Start Date: January 14, 2024 End Date: January 21, 2024
Distances
Basecamp Line: 3,939.90 Ly Main Waypoints: 4,754.95 Ly
Map, (click for full size):
Basecamp: GCRV 6493
Main Waypoints
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Statue of Liberty Sector LC-V c2-12
x Carinae
V405 Carinae
Eta Carinae
Eta Carina Sector JH-V c2-9
GCRV 6493
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Statue of Liberty Sector LC-V c2-12
POI: Statue of Liberty Nebula
Statue of Liberty Nebula, also known as NGC 3576 is an emission nebula within the Carina constellation area of the night sky. It was discovered by Sir John Frederick William Herschel in 1834. It was additionally named the Statue of Liberty Nebula in 2009 by Dr. Steve Mazlin.
x Carinae, also known as V382 Carinae is a G class yellow hypergiant star in the Carina constellation of the night sky. It is the brightest yellow hypergiant in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye. It is roughly 6200 lightyears from our own solar system, 200,000 times as luminous as our sun, and around 500 times the radius of the Sun.
NGC 3293 is an open cluster discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lecaille in 1751. It contains more than 100 stars brighter than 14th magnitude, some of the brightest of are blue supergiants.
Eta Carinae is a star system containing at least two known starts, and has a combined luminosity greater than five million times brighter than our Sun. It is roughly 7,500 lightyears from our solar system in the Cairna constellation section of the night sky. In 1837 is brightened to become brighter than Rigel. It then became the second brightest star in the night sky for a few days inMarch 1843 before beginning to fade down again, going below naked eye visibility levels in 1856. It had another short brightening period in 1892 before fading again. It has though since 1940 been brightening consistently and has become a 4.5 magnitude star since 2014.
The brightness eruptions of this star are unqieu to it and no other anlogues to this behaviour are currently known in any galaxy. The cause of the eruptions is also not known, some hypotheses include one of the stars having mass transfer to the main star on close orbital passes (perriastron passage), or possibly the merging of two very large stars into a single larger star.
NGC 3372, also known as the Carina Nebula is a large nebula in the Carina-Sagittarius arm of the galaxy, approximately 8,500 lightyears from Earth. Within it is the Carina OB1 association and several open clusters including Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 16. It is one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our night sky. While it is four times as large as and brighter than the Orion Nebula it is less well known due to being in the southern sky. It was discovered in 1752 by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.
NGC 3211 is a small blue planetary nebula around the star GCRV 6493 in the Carina constellation of the night sky. It was discovered by Sir John Frederick William Herschel in 1837
There is reportedly Notable Stellar Phenomena in this system containing anomalies.
On January 7, 2024 we will be launching the sixth iteration of the Celebration of Early Astronomy expedition. For Leg 1 we will be working our way eastward to the NGC 3590 cluster as we visit sights such as Orion’s Belt, and The Vela Pulsar along the way, as well as some clusters and other stars of interest.
Dates
Start Date: January 7, 2024 End Date: January 14, 2024
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Keltim
Alnitak
Mintaka
Vela Pulsar
Phi Velorum
HD 78344
GCRV 715
NGC 3590 CLA 15
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Keltim
POI: GL 149
We will launch our sixth Celebration of Early Astronomy Expedition from this location, while in-game it is named Keltim, it is the real binary star system known as GJ 149, containing the stars
The easternmost star of Orion’s Belt, a very recognizable landmark in the night sky. It is a known triple-star system. Its distance from our solar system in-game is actually a lot closer than in reality, as when the in-game galaxy was generated it was thought to be at a distance of about 225 parsecs from us, however observations since then have revealed that it is actually much further at approximately 1260 parsecs. (about 4100 lightyears). Alnitak Aa is an O class supergiant, estimated to be roughly 33 times as massive as our sun, 20 times the diameter, and 21,000 times the brightness. It is the brightest class O star in the night sky. – Alnitak Ab is a B type subgiant discovered in 1998, and Alnitak C is believed to be part of the system, but has not been fully confirmed and may be another star along the line of sight from our solar system to Alnitak.
There is a POI there named “Impressive Rings” on one of the other stars in the system.
The westernmost star of Orion’s Belt, a very recognizable landmark in the night sky. Mintaka is a multi star system approximately 1200 lightyear from our own solar system, however in game it is only 692 lightyears from Sol. This is due to new discoveries that occurred since the generation of the in-game galaxy show it being nearly twice as far as it was believed to be in 2013. – The primary stars of the system are a class O and a class B star that orbit each other. They are aligned such that they eclipse each other periodically as viewed from our solar system, causing periodic decreases in the brightness of the system in the night sky.
The Vela Puslar is a nearby pulsar and one of the best known “gltiching” pulsar, in that it will have unpredicatble changes in its rotational speed for a few seconds at a time. Currently the most recent known glitch of the Vela Puslar was on July 22, 2021 where it briefly slowed down it’s rotational speed for a few seconds before returning to it’s normal rotational speed.
Phi Velorum is a B class supergiant in the Vela constellation. It is additionally known by the identifiers HD 86440 and HR 3940, and has the traditional Chinese name of Tseen Ke (天紀 ). It is approximately 10 times as massive as our sun.
This system contains the rather rare sight of a ringed neutron star. The main star of the system is an O class main sequence star. Additionally there is a fair number of other real star systems near this one for exploration.
NGC 3918, also known as The Southerner Nebula or “The Blue Planetary Nebula” is a bright planetary nebula in the Centaurus constellation region of the sky. It was first discovered by Sir John Herschel in March 1834 and is easily visible through small telescopes. The central star of the nebula is actually obscured from optical light observations because of how bright the planetary nebula around it is.
NGC 3590 is an open cluster in the Carina constellation of the sky. There are a fair number of real stars located around this region for exploration purposes. We will be having our CEA 6 Leg 1 Basecamp at NGC 3590 CLA 15 in this cluster.
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Keltim
Alnitak
Mintaka
Epsilon Orionis
Vela Pulsar
Phi Velorum
HD 78344
GCRV 715
NGC 3590 CLA 15
Optional Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Epsilon Orionis
AKA: Alnilam
More commonly known as Alnilam, this is the center star of the Orion’s Belt asterism. It is a decent bit further (in-game) from our solar system than the other two stars of Orion’s Belt (Alnitak and Mintaka). It is the 29th brightest star in the night sky and the fourth brightest star in the Orion constellation.
For the next three weeks we will be doing an in-depth survey of the cluster known as Caldwell 1. Discovering, mapping, and bio-scanning anything we can find in there, and logging it to our discoveries spreadsheet for the leg, which can be found: here
Dates
Start Date: January 14, 2023 End Date: February 4, 2023
Map References quick reference list, more details below
NGC 188 SMV 4385
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: NGC 188 SMV 4385
POI: Caldwell 1
Caldwell 1, also known as NGC 188 is an open cluster located within the Cepheus constellation areas of the sky as seen from Earth. Being circumpolar as well it is always above the Horizon no matter where you are in the northern hemisphere. It was discovered in 1831 by John Herschel. Among open clusters it has a high number of main sequence stars making it of particular interest to scientists studying those and for potential exoplanets.
It is the first object in the Caldwell catalog made by Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore to act as a complement to the Messier catalog. The objects in the Caldwell catalog are ordered by their declination, meaning Caldwell 1 is the most northerly in the sky, and Caldwell 109 being the most southerly.
The optional waypoints for this leg is to simply scout out any stars you can within the cluster. There is a shared discoveries spreadsheet available at this link: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AuaQ1lvTHzu7jkpyRmG-FXzQ2uvU?e=dE7SG0 to keep track of what has already been scouted by the group and what needs to be scouted still. Please make sure to record any progress there as well!
We are setting off with the first leg of the fifth Celebration of Early Astronomy. In this leg we are travelling from the human populated bubble up to our entry basecamp for Caldwell 1, which we will then enter on leg 2 and spend three weeks scouting in depth.
Dates
Start Date: January 07, 2023 End Date: January 14, 2023
Distances
Basecamp Line: 6,461.95 Ly Main Waypoints: 8,219.67 Ly
Map, (click for full size):
Basecamp: Ploea The YQ-U d3-0
Main Waypoints
Map References quick reference list, more details below
Keltim
45 Tauri
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-29
BrSO 14
Veil West Sector DL-Y d68
North America Sector LC-V c2-3
Ploea The YQ-U d3-0
Main Waypoints Details
Map Reference: Keltim
POI: GJ 149
We will launch our fifth Celebration of Early Astronomy Expedition from this location
Caldwell 41, The Hyades Cluster is the nearest open cluster to our own solar system, and one of the best studied star clusters in existence due to that. From the perspective of Earth, it appears within the constellation Taurus at a similar angle in the sky to Aldebaran, albeit unrelated to Aldebaran otherwise. Four stars of the Hyades, with Tauri constellation Bayer designations Gamma, Delta 1, Epsilon, and Theta form the asterism that is the head of Taurus the Bull. Due to its proximity to our own solar system, the distance to it can be measured using parallax shift of the member stars as we orbit our own sun throughout our year. This leads to the a highly accurate mesaurement of roughly 145 Ly to the center of the cluster. 45 Tauri particularly is on the closer side of the cluster.
Caldwell 99, The Coalsack Nebula is a dark nebula easily visible to the naked eye in the sky as a dark patch obscuring part of the Milky Way’s band. Taking up about 7 degrees of arc in the night sky it is multiple times the size of the apparently size of the moon in our night sky from Earth. In Australian Aboriginal astronomy, it forms the head of the “Emu in the Sky” constellation. It was likewise a bird in Incan astronomy as well, representing a Tinamou.
Caldwell 68, roughly 400 lightyears away from our solar system is one of the nearest star-forming regions to us. It is one part of the larger Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. It was discovered in 1861 by Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt. It is a variable nebula which shows irregular variations in brightness and shape.
Caldwell 34, also 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.
Caldwell 20 was discovered by William Herschel in 1786 and located roughly 1800 lightyears from our own solar system it occupies a section of the sky roughly three times the apparent size of a full moon within the constellation Cygnus. It is an emission nebula with the clouds of gas being ionized by a nearby star, causing the gas to glow. The reddish colour is characteristic of hydrogen the dominates Caldwell 20.
Caldwell 2 was discovered by William Herschel in 1788 and located roughly 3500 lightyears from our own solar system in the constellation Cepheus. It can be quite difficult to spot due to having only apparently visual magnitude of 12.3, making it the faintest object in the Caldwell catalog.
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’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.
