And visit the Green Gas Giants! Ever since the invention of the Frame Shift Drive, deep space explorers have been exchanging reports of gas giants with some... odd characteristics. Exotic planets that humanity has never before encountered in the human-occupied bubble, with one big thing in common: They glow an intense and otherworldly bright neon green color. Naturally, these lighthouses of planets became hotspots for deep space explorers and simple sightseers, with the closest one to Sol being just shy of 300 lightyears distant. But still, no one really understood why exactly these gas giants displayed such vivid coloration.
It wasn't until a few years after the beginning of the new century that real research was done into these glowing green gas giants. Turns out, within the upper cloud layers of these gas giants are countless amounts of free-floating radioplankton that interact with the planet's intense radiation belts. This interaction gives them energy which in turn causes them to become bioluminescent and glow their distinct bright green light, so much so that their aggregate light is visible from space.
Nowadays, there have been more reports of these so-called Green Gas Giants in almost every area of the galaxy—from the bright core regions to out on the galactic rim, bordering intergalactic space. And this summer, the Independent Explorers Association is planning a grand tour around the galaxy, visiting the majority of the GGGs and celebrating their discovery, and sharing the stories of each one and their historical significance. Even if you've seen them all before—or this is your first time hearing about them, we invite you along on The Green Gas Giant Historical Tour! As well as the GGGs, we will have many events planned along the route, as well as contests that will run through the length of the expedition.
Information and communication will exclusively be transmitted through the IEA Discord Server. Upon joining, also sign up on our internal roster and request to join the IEA Private Group, where expedition events will take place. Get ready to come along and discover some of the Milky Way's most elusive celestial objects! And who knows, maybe the next Green Gas Giant will be found by you...
Discovered ~1,400 LY due galactic north from Sol. Has a great ring system, a 2 close binary moons, and is one of only a few GGGs to forward scatter pink light through its atmosphere.
A special Green Gas Giant with Water-Based Life. This was the second GGG to be found via searching data dumps rather than through empirical exploring. Has a close landable moon for beautiful vistas.
One of the most famous GGGs out there, more popularly known as 'Viridian Dreams'. For a long time this planet was an anomaly amongst the known Green Class Is for its rather striking green cloud bands as well as light pink base cloud layer. It took nearly 6 years until other Green Class Is were found with this similar cloud color display.
This planet was also notably featured in marketing material as the backdrop for livery options of the Python Mk II Spacehawk Pack on the E:D store.
A Class III GGG with purple and green coloration. Both of its poles have turned green, but one of them just so happens to roughly resemble the shape of a pentagon, hence its nickname "Green Pentagon"
Blua Hypa HT-F d12-1226 (Blua Hypa Glowing Green Giant)
The second Green Gas Giant ever discovered, the first one with a known documented location. For a long time this GGGWL was the smallest of the green planets.
Notable for being the first ever GGG discovered from searching data dumps rather than through empirical exploration. It is a part of a trinary orbital configuration and has a singular moon to view the planet on foot from.
Eor Aowsy GR-W e1-1381 (Eor Aowsy Glowing Green Giant)
Another special green gas giant, currently the only known Green Class IV Gas Giant in the Milky Way. This planet has major green coloration with many green cloud bands.
5th Green Gas Giant ever discovered, and notable for its extremely close distance to Colonia: Just one jump away. It is currently the only GGG known to be inside a nebula. 3 large green equatorial cloud bands encircle the planet.
Abeona's Blessing is a fantastic Green Gas Giant with Water-Based Life nearby the Colonia region. It has a pair of close orbiting moons that make for great pictures.
A system located above the galactic plane hosting a world with overlapping impact craters. Most interestingly, the area where they intersect seems to not have been affected by either impactor.
A fascinating configuration of a ringed gas giant and a close binary set of moons orbiting just along the outer edge of the rings. Definitely worth a stop.
Notable for being the first Green Class III gas giant found, as well as the first one found orbiting a secondary star. This planet was also proof that the normal life-bearing gas giants are not the only classes to have this strange green glow. Also one of the few GGGs to forward scatter pink light through the atmosphere and actually glow green.
There is an icy moon here only 159km away from the ring of the gas giant it orbits. So close in fact that when in the moon's frame of reference in orbital cruise, the ship can pass right through the rings without dropping out of supercruise.
First Green Gas Giant ever discovered. It took the might of an entire expedition dedicated to searching to actually rediscover it. It was actually the IEA who led that expedition three years ago. It is a Green Gas Giant with Water-Based Life, and actually has the fastest rotational velocity of any known GGG. This planet is one of a select few that forward scatter pink light through its atmosphere.
Within this system lies a quadruple moon system orbiting a gas giant in the form of a double-binary pair (two binaries orbiting one another) at close distance.
A pretty unique system featuring a ringed class III gas giant with four water world moons and a GGWL moon. Three water world moons are ringed. The Class III gas giant is also in binary orbit with another water world.
A system with binary white dwarfs being encircled by three planets. One of the white dwarfs has a death spiral gas giant orbiting in under an hour. All the while a massive carbon star looms from beyond.
A system containing a Galactic Record: A total of four WO class stars in the same system, one of them has a very cool temperature allowing for epic photos and scenery.
Probably the most significant Green Gas Giant. Orbiting this neutron star is a Green Water Giant with beautiful icy rings and K10 Anomalies within them.
Named as such for its location in the constellation of Sagittarius, this absolutely beautiful Class I Green Gas Giant was found on New Years' Eve in 3310. It is one of the two wild discoveries that are actually only three days apart.
Discovered by an explorer who was solely jumping to F type stars. A pastel-pink gas giant with hazy equatorial green clouds. It has a geologically active moon that makes for scenic mountain climbing.
The 60th GGG to be found, resembling that of the popular Class III "Dreamer Blush" in Kepler's Crest. It has a landable atmospheric moon great for pictures.
More popularly known as "Neon Beacon", this Class I is the first in its little archetype of green Class Is with more green than usual, but never as much as Viridian Dreams.
A bonkers system with a quintuple orbital configuration. That is, a binary set of planets that are orbited by another planet, orbited by another planet, orbited by another planet.
