Still exploring sector 18. I've discovered all known geo features in this sector, but still there's a lot to discover in the Codex. Rare stars, space anomalies... I wonder how people find them if not by chance. At least I have an idea about finding bio features.

Landed at nearby outpost and handed over my exploration data. 405 MCr earned.

Still exploring sector 18. Made some Codex discovery, sold another bunch of exploration data around 191 M Cr. worth.

Reached the planetary nebula NGC 7048 around IRAS 21124+4606, a Wolf-Raye star. Beautiful sight. After that found a fleet carrier in about 600 ly away and docked there the hand off exploration data.

Reached NGC 7822, a star forming complex with many bright blue stars. On the way I made some Codex discoveries, found several new terraformable WWs. I explored all blue stars in the nebula named S171 ##, and they are full of simple life forms on planets.

I'm writing this log entry long after my return from Sgr A*. I did reach it, I saw it, and I returned back to the Bubble. A lot happened since then, but none of it worth mentioning. Nothing related to exploration.

My good old Cobra Explorer now rests on my fleet carrier. It endured a 76000 ly trip to the Galaxy center, and another 25000 ly back. It was a challenge, but Cobra MK III was never intended to be a main exploration ship. I took another one, which I wanted from the beginning - Asp Explorer. Fully engineered, 71.5 ly laden jump range, ready to take me anywhere.

I named it "Serenity".

That's what I feel out there deep in the black, under the light of distant stars. Vast galaxy full of wonders. Beauty in the dark. Deep space, here I come. Again.

Segment 5 is done. Just done. It took long, including all my stopovers, dropping by some interesting systems (over a thousand ly away from my main route... yeah, just dropping by) and other stuff. But finally I'm here, at Eos Scraa EA-D b27-19, a blue giant system on the border between regions 5 (Norma Arm) and 2 (Empyrean Straits).

7300 ly to the centre. The journey continues.

Segment 4 is done. It was another 5000 ly travel across the vast space, and finally I'm here on the border between regions 9 (Inner Scutum-Centaurus Arm) and 5 (Norma Arm). My last stop, Nuekau FH-U e3-5519, is quite fascinating itself. First, it's a white-blue supergiant, the first one I found. Second, it's the first system where I found a life-form, bioluminescent anemones.

12200 ly more to the centre. The journey continues.

My quest for a Wolf-Rayet star is over. I've visited about 40 of them and finally discovered a new one. Not a big deal, considering there must be tens, if not hundreds, of thousand of them over the galaxy. But I understand why people see finding a Wolf-Rayet star as an achievement. They are beautiful =)

I've rested for a 2 weeks floating in space and looking at an unusually bright neutron star, one of numerous great views you can find in space. But at last I have to move on. I'm returning to the base at Skaudai CH-B d14-34 and heading to the galaxy centre from there.

(Systems visited - 326, first discovered - a lot, discovery data sold - 248.6 MCr.)

The journey continues.

For the first time I used the real-view map to plan my route, and I was surprised how informative it can be. Big balls of light for bright stars, coloured specks of main sequence stars, deep crimson flashes of proto-stars, tiny white dots of neutron stars and white dwarves, pitch black spheres of black holes. With some practice you begin to distinguish stars by star class and luminosity with just a glance. After few hours with the map I marked about 200 systems in the Skaude sector that look interesting. There's a lot to see.

The optimal solution was found - continue going forward, but find a place to repair. Simple, isn't it?

Yeah, easier said than done. I had an idea that somewhere in space, even away from the Bubble, there might be a colony, a base or a settlement, where I can dock and fix my ship. So I decided to search inside nebulae, which might be a good place for a resource-based colony. A wild shot, of course, even with some useful filters applied to my star map. But I got lucky - just in the third nebula I spotted an inhabited system with a planetary base.

Skaudai CH-B d14-34.

48 jumps to that system. Fixed my ship. Sold exploration data for 398 MCr. And now I could continue my journey, but then I had another idea. On my short travel across the sector 9 I saw a lot of interesting systems, so why not to take a break and discover some rare stars.

Let's go hunt.