A reasonable amount of progress "today", passing through a couple of untagged Superbright" stars.

Also found quite a large amount of Water Worlds again compared to recent discoveries, but the highlight was an Ammonia World, which I approached with some trepidation given the recent galaxy-wide news announcement that the Thargoids have made a return to our galaxy. However I found nothing untoward, thankfully.

I ended the stint on a metal-rich body orbiting a B-class star and futilely attempted to find some volcanic vents which my shipboard scanners indicated should be prevalent here.

Notable systems:

• Iwainch CM-T d4-52 - a system containing many ringed planets, the first 3 of which were landable.

Leaving the "Flaming Torch" nebula behind, I charted course towards a "Superbright" O-Class. No exciting discoveries enroute, and the "Superbright" was already tagged by Cmdr Aalian.

From there I headed towards another "Superbright", this one pre-discovered by Cmdr ==HGLM== Limp Cucumber.

All up a rather disappointing days' exploration, netting me little more than a few B-class stars, but I did finally break through the 14kLY barrier to Colonia!

While exploring a system with a large water world near the "Torch Nebula", my ship picked up the following transmission:

 "This is an urgent message from Commander Edward Lewis. There are forces out there who do not want you to know the truth, but I have to make this public. I found a ship in HIP 17044. A Federal cap ship, shot to pieces. They were carrying the data the Feds stole from Professor Palin. The crew is dead, but they discovered something important about the Unknown Ships. There is a beacon in the wreckage broadcasting a message over, and over. It proves what we suspected. They are back. And the whole galaxy needs to know. The Thargoids have returned."

Now I wonder if there will be a home left for me to return to, or a warzone? What lurks out here in the depths of space? Will this ship become my tomb?

All I can do is rush back home now, to prepare for the worst, and to help protect those I hold dear.

Rather oddly, I also discovered my first undiscovered Earth-like in several months. And on the very next jump, another one. Both were on the core-ward side just outside the "Flaming Torch" nebula. Very nice views with the nebula in the background.

One of the systems had a water-world as well, the other had a landable moon around the ELW.

It ended up being one of the most lucrative days, apart from the two ELW's, I also found a huge ringed Ammonia World and several more Water Worlds.

I shut down the ship systems and retired hanging in a remote orbit around a Gas Giant with a gorgeous view of the "Flaming Torch" nebula a few hundred light-years behind me.

Explored in and around the "Flaming Torch" nebula, where I found numerous water-worlds. I even found an Earthlike, however it had already been discovered by Cmdr Thund3rnuns. Can't have it all.

Just on the outskirts of the nebula I found a couple of Herbig Ae/Be stars, one of which had a super-heavy Water Giant orbiting it. The actual waypoint star, an O-class, had, of course, also been tagged already, by Cmdr Narzgul.

From here it will be a long trek to the next nebula..

I finished exploring the Black Hole system and proceeded on a number of jumps between local B- and O-class stars around the top of the Flaming Torch nebula.

Most of the systems had already been discovered, but apart from the main star none contained anything out of the ordinary.

I then plotted a route into the centre of the nebula via main-sequence stars.

An interesting jump sequence incorporating quite a few Neutron Stars, a Black Hole, and a "Superbright" Herbig Ae/Be.

I ended the trip in a Black Hole system discovered by CMDR Svenno, just off the top-most section of the Flaming Torch nebula, which has been my next destination recently.

I will spend the next little while exploring this nebula before resuming my journey towards Colonia, which is now less than 15kLY away.

Finally completed survey of O-class system; never got to the bottom of that POI.

Headed to a nearby Neutron star for a boost, and then onwards to another "Superbright", leaving me just over a Kylie from the next nebula.

I ended up keeping going via an O-class to another "Superbright", then a nearby Black Hole and Neutron Star.

Nothing of especial interest.

Performed several neutron-star jumps and then completed my journey along B-class systems finally reaching my destination, a super-bright O-class system.

After scanning the system I decided to make camp on a moon and just as I was coming in to land my ship systems picked up a point-of-interest! To say that this was unexpected is a bit of an understatement..! I circled around and landed as close to the center of the POI as possible, then deployed my SRV to hunt down the source.

However, apart from a couple of outcrops which yielded some metals, I found nothing despite spending nearly an hour criss-crossing the floor of the pitch-black canyon which was the location of the POI.

Finally I reboarded my ship in order to hunt the POI from air, but it was now gone from my ship scanners. Flabbergasted I circled the area and finally landed on the edge of the canyon which had been my original destination.

Ghost in the machine? Ephemeral signal? Aliens..?? I guess I shall never know..

A bunch of Neutron-Star jumps. Nothing of particular note, slowly inching my way towards Colonia..

Half-a-dozen or so jumps, all B-class stars, today, ending in an undiscovered Neutron Star. Nothing of particular note.

Considering whether to map out another Neutron-Star route, or just jump normally for a bit. I've also decided not to head towards the ?? Nebula, but rather go more-or-less straight towards Colonia.