Today I'll make my way back to the Carriers and prepare for the mass jump on next Tuesday (6/30). But before that happens, I'll take a look on just a few more systems, one of them being a double giant star.

For today's report, I'll give you this location. It was one of my premier visits to a real exoplanet depicted in the game.

NGC 2682 YBP 1514

A G class star with 28 bodies in its system. One of them is the planet 1, a close orbiting Class IV gas giant.

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Why do I give you the location? Well, I recently stumbled across articles concerning exoplanets in M 67. So far, there are (at least) 4 known systems in the cluster, that have (at least) 1 known planet:

• S364 (a K3 Giant not in the game)
• YBP 401
• YBP 1194 (the only other of those 4 stars in the game - apparently including a simulated version of its planet) ...and finally...
• YBP 1514

YBP 1514 has a real planet (discovered 2014, just before the Milky Way opened for us), a Hot Jupiter with a mass of 0.4(+/-0.3) Jupiters, orbiting its host once every 5.1 days. The orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 (+/-0.09). Real planet data

The datas of planet 1 are quite similar: Orbital period and eccentricity are similar (except much higher with 0.39), mass is quite low compared to the real exoplanet. But it has a simulated temperature, semi-major-axis, ... ED Planet 1 data.

All in all, it is a pleasure to see how much detail is added to the game in terms of depicting real exoplanets. A nice sight to end the Wall of text:

Not that much to report these days, as the expedition stays at Messier 67 for the next 10 days. I'll post some photos (if I have) and some data for the system/planet... For day 10, I have this one photo of me in the SRV, driving through a nice field of Sulphur Dioxide fumaroles.

This is moon AB1 A in the system 2MASS J08513191+1151166, Geo site 3. It orbits a Y dwarf in the system. It came right in-handy because I wanted to fill up a bit on Arsenic and Vanadium. The area at the bottom of a canyon was very flat (except that it was to the foot of the steep cliff) and landing the Clipper and driving were very well-possible. It was a pleasure to drive around for a bit :)

Knowing my luck with Arsenic (I somehow never find it on any sites on planets with Arsenic), I considered myself lucky to get at least 2 crystals with it inside. 6 units is better than nothing :)

I finally caught a ride! Once I logged on on Tuesday, I saw a Carrier in the system. There was no holding back: I immediately boarded, took a window seat, and an hour after I was there.

Messier 67

The cluster in the Cancer constellation consists of about 500 stars (around 230 in ED). For an open cluster, it is pretty old (3.5 billion years) and it contains a high number of Giant stars (some of them are in ED) and white dwarves (none of them are in ED). The rest are mostly sun-like G or K stars, with some hotter exceptions in between. To date it is only reachable with a minimum range of 55 ly or by using a Fleet Carrier. Without a FC it would be a one-way travel...

The expedition will stay there for a full 2 weeks, for exploration and mapping of the systems up there. Some examples of what have been found so far:

A water world at the very edge of the cluster, NGC 2682 YBP 364 (...and what is this blue dot in the background?):

A quarternary star, whose first 3 stars build a very close triplet.

Crystalline Shards. With a nice view on M67 and the galaxy.

Last days were action-packed, because they had quite a challenge to be completed - the Cancri Climb - or better: Getting a (max) 48 ly Clipper up the Cancri Climb.

The Way to the Cancri Climb

I started at Presepe and left the cluster behind pretty fast. I wanted to make track on my way up. So I stopped for scanning only when Terrestrial planets showed up in the discoveries.

Along the way, I stumbled upon non less than 3 Earth-Like Worlds, the second-most ELWs for me on a single day (after May 11, 3305). Sadly, all were already fully discovered and mapped. But they all three look beautiful, I can't decide which one to show as reference. Ok... I choose the second one, Outotz CH-I c24-0 1

The Cancri Climb in a 46.9 ly Clipper (fully-laden)

I've read about a route a fellow CMDR of the expedition used to bring a 41 ly Cutter up to M 67. I wanted to play safe and used it too - with a little variation (you know, the exploring DNA...). On the course, I needed 6 (or 7) injextions, and used 2 Neutron boosts. Here it is, my way up to Outotch SA-U d4-0:

START: Outotch HS-S d4-0

1. Outotch FX-S d4-0 (79.02 ly) - J3 injection
2. Outotch DC-T d4-0 (77,29 ly) - J3 injection
3. Outotch BH-T d4-0 (77.50 ly) - another J3 injection
4. Outotch AH-T d4-0 (55.87 ly) - J1 injection
5. Outotch ZL-T d4-0 (39.10 ly)
6. Outotch YL-T d4-0 (67.62 ly) - J2 injection
7. Outotch SK-V d3-0 (93.69 ly) - this was the closest call for me, as the Level 3 Jumponium I needed to reach the system worked out by just 0.1 ly with a full tank.
8. Outotch TK-V d3-0 (18.56 ly) - a short hop to this Neutron. From here it was really easy.
9. Outotch QP-V d3-0 (121.31 ly) - Neutron Boost (1 of 2 needed)
10. Outotch SA-U d4-0 (128.96 ly) - Neutron Boost

6 injections and 2 Neutrons. And then I was there. Now let's wait for the Carrier...

My goal for yesterday was to reach a cluster in the constellation of Cancer, NGC 2632. That was successful and a good "warm-up" for what awaits me now: The Cancri Climb, a well-known route up to Messier 67, located in the not-far-away Outotch sector. But here`s the problem: My Clipper doesn't have a sufficient range (48.7 ly unladen) to reach it. So I'm relying on the fellow CMDRs with the Fleet Carriers to taxi me up to M67. This means: the Climb will terminate in Outotch SA-U d4-0, a Neutron Star system where I'll be able to hitch the hike up to the cluster...

A last view on NGC 1333

This photo was taken while departing from the Asteroid Base at NGC 1333. It hovers in the ring of a Class V giant orbiting in a close-by B star system.

Geminga (PSR J0633+1746)

On the way nothing special happened, except for a (already discovered/mapped) terraformable water world. I arrived rather quickly at this pulsar in the Gemini costellation. It is a WP of the tour, the pulsar is known for being the next pulsar to Sol (along with Vela) and having the least emission rate of all known Neutrons in the galaxy. It's jetcones are rather thin.

Praesepe (NGC 2632, Messier 44)

The cluster was reached rather quickly after boosting from Geminga (and another quite boring way up). It is the second-brightest cluster (after the Pleiades) and contains more than 300 rather bright stars, mostly being massive class A, F or G. Therefore, it contains many of the rare A, F and G Giant Stars, for example 32-Upsilon Cancri (G), 40 Cancri (A) or Praesepe itself (A). The later of the 3 stars became my night camp, because it features a moon with Bio signals (Croceum anemones). It orbits a ringed Y dwarf on the edge of the system and provides a nice view on the galactic bar and sorrounding nebulae.

Yesterday was... interesting to say the least. First off, my goal for the day was to reach NGC 1333. This was successful, to take it out. The way from the Southern Pole Star to NGC 1333 lead me through some far reaches of the Bubble first. Not that much of interest there, until, 9 jumps in, the system of 97 Ceti came up.

97 Ceti

The star in the constellation of Cetus (Whale) is a Yellow Giant, a class you won't see that often in space and the ED universe. The first moon of the first planet (a Class IV GG) said to me "Come over here, I am a good one to land!". You say it, you do it. Landed and was rewarded with this view:

Surprise in the Plejades

Just a jump or 2 further, I realized that I just entered Thargoid land. In the Aries Dark Region and the Pleiades area, the Non-Human Signal Sources popped up in quite a large number, and then, there was moon B10 A in the system Pleiades Sector KM-W D1-40, where I crossed paths with this... thing:

It was my first visit to a Thargoid structure (on free will, of course)! I spent most part of yesterday's evening just to drive around and scan and explore everything it had to offer. Just 2 more pics...

Let me say two more things:

1. Driving in that area was a bit "stressful" due to the hilly terrain. I am quite a fast driver, so I took quite a bit of hull damage.
2. Unlucky me didn't encounter a Thargoid ship docking at it :(

NGC 1333 and "suspicious" star lineup

Once I reached NGC 1333, I noticed how the stars in the area are arranged. They're mostly M stars, arranged in a "line" that goes on for several hundred lightyears, even past the Nebula itself. The waypoint of the expedition lies at the upper end of the "line", but I took the time to move over to the Asteroid Base near the nebula for the night. It is situated in a quite interesting system - almost every landable planet/moon has Bio signals. I'll come back later, but for today I'll move on...

Yesterday it started for me. The FC update dropped and the CEA2 FC crew fueled their carriers up for the travel to Messier 67. And so it started, my first "organised" expedition in my career. It should have been a mass jump at 19:00 UTC yesterday, but the downtime and problems compromised that. The US mass jump took place at 3 am (my time) this night, so I was asleep. So I decided to depart from Laird's Progress at Keltim on my own. My departure time was 10:45 pm (my time)...

The first day was only a short one. Decided to make the first 3 WPs (Lambda Fornacis, Zeta Reticuli and Polaris Australis) before setting to rest. On the course I was the one to map the first planet on the whole tour (Polaris Australis 1) - in this case for finding a suitable Geo Site for my overnight camp. And here it is, Geo Site 11 (of 20), located near the South Pole of Polaris Australis 1:

I know from at least 1-2 other CMDRs, that they chose this system as resting place for the night. It is a nice white subgiant with some planets, having big volcanic activity...

Today I will visit NGC 1333 (and the nearby station), before heading to the Geminga Pulsar. Then it is planned to ascend towards M67 (the main object of interest of the expedition) on the weekend.

So, now that I pancaked my Clipper yesterday and head to the Lagoon Nebula for repairs, I decided to visit my old Amphora Plant Hunting ground. The reason are not the Amphora Plants itself, but that the area is full of Earth Like Worlds. Before I finally found my own Amphora spot (and I destroyed my AspX there once), I found at least (!) 5-8 ELWs in that area. I have coords for 5 of them, and I want to re-visit them, before heading back for the CEA2 Tour. Maybe I'll find a few more...

The last days brought good and bad news to me. Here are the news - mostly discoveries:

• In Thailae ZW-X A1, I found the first Class II gas giant in this hunt. It is the sole planet of a L7 and T4 binary (believed to be a caught-up rogue) and has a nice eccentricity.
• A somewhat unremarkable system is Thailae UB-Y A3. It is a single T3 Dwarf with 5 planets - 4 iceballs and a (captured) GG with water-based life (the first "countable" in the hunt, because the others I found were around M dwarfs or T Tauris). The highlight of the system is the Notable Stellar Phenomena around 6kls out. It were these Prasinum Crystals. It is quite dark out there.
• Many close-orbiting planets were found, but most of them were iceballs. But in Thailae DD-W A1-2, the 3 innermost planets (around the primary L1 Dwarf, the system has 3 stars) were landable HMCs, with A2 having a moon. This moon features Silica volcanism, like this magma tubes.
• A new personal record for orbital eccentricity has been established for the hunt. The HMC in the system Thailae IO-U A2-1 (T1) has an eccentricity of 0.9639. It was more than 8.5kls away from entrance, therefore it is really dark out there. The orrery shows more than the planet picture. .
• I pancaked my Clipper. Yes, I did. Just yesterday I was on a steep approach to a Geo Site on an icy moon of a Class I GG. At about 500m above the surface (in a canyon) I wanted to deploy my landing gear (I slowly went down...), but instead of deploying my gear, my FSD initiated a boost!!! I tried to turn the nose back up, but too late - I smacked the bottom of that canyon at about 350 m/s, belly first... shields and hull went down the rink... after two big bumps, I regained control and went through to another approach... this time it worked well.

Luckily, my hull was strong enough to not let me see the rebuy screen. Now I have 20% hull left, and that means: Searching for the nearest station to repair. And that means: Let's pay another visit to Lagoon Nebula and Attenborough's Watch. Back and forth, one day trip each.

Happens. xD

Hey there, I'm reporting back from my Clipper Maiden trip! After taking a 3-week holiday at NGC 6231, I am back in my Gutamaya cockpit, giving you some news:

• The NGC 6231 cluster was a pleasure to visit, and I recommend it to every new explorer. At a distance of about 4klys from Sol, You can find stars for which you'll normally have to fly further. It is already extensively mapped and catalogued, but for an explorer just wanting to have a small stint from everyday's bubble duties, the cluster might be a good choice. It has B, O, black holes, and white supergiants, some of the systems also have life in it. Check it out!
• You can also put the cluster as a waypoint for your Palin trip, if you want to do a small roundtrip for that cause. A nice spot for a rest on your way to e.g. Eagle Nebula (or back) :)
• The small Brown Dwarf Hunt has begun. For that I chose an area around the border between the nearby sectors Drojia and Thailae. In this and the following week, I will randomly search L, T, Y stars (with the occasional T Tauri or M in between) in that area for nice shinies. Then I'll set sails back to the Bubble for preparation for the CEA2 Tour.
• Yesterday I got 3 systems with nearby planets, all of them being L primaries. But, nothing out of the ordinary actually - the occasional HMC or Class I between the iceballs.
• The last system of yesterday, Thailae UW-X A3, offered me 4 nearby planets (+ moon) around an L6 star. But it was a little disappointing, as all of them were ice worlds. But at least, planets 1, 2 and the moon 4A offered some Geo sites, carbon dioxide (1, 4A) or nitrogen (2 - no sites found upon mapping!?!?). On planet 1 (an icy "potato", diameter 430 km, distance from star around 10 ls), it looks like this (Geo Site 8):

Today, the hunt continues. What may wait today?