A group planetary circumnavigation expedition (scouting phase)

Alec Turner · Feb 14, 2019

AkenBosch said:
"I totally had no time for an actual present, but look at this lovely screenshot I took of some heart-shaped tyre tracks in a videogame" - these were reportedly the last words uttered by the man soon before being stabbed multiple times by his relative, as testified by some of the neighbors. More at 08:00.

LMFAO [haha]

Yeah, now you mention it ... definitely a good judgement call in the end.

Walter2 · Feb 14, 2019

Alec Turner said:
Arghhh, too much choice! [haha]

If it's difficult to pick a single target from candidates with equal merit, choosing one at random is as good a method as any. There will be plenty left for the second run.

Alec Turner · Feb 15, 2019

Alec Turner said:
Currently parked in Scorpii Sector EL-Y C29 A 1 B.

Nice planet. I appear to have recorded over an hour of video so it must be quite good. Uploading later, in the meantime ..

Alec Turner · Feb 15, 2019

Alec Turner said:
I appear to have recorded over an hour of video so it must be quite good.

Condensed down to around 17mins. Still kinda long but it was a pretty cool journey if you have the time.

[video=youtube_share;NOBLDfkWjwQ]https://youtu.be/NOBLDfkWjwQ[/video]

P.S. sorry about all glitching towards the end - the sun was coming up behind me and messing with my TrackIR (that's my excuse for what happens at the end anyhow)

Termite Altair · Feb 16, 2019

Oooh, sign me up!

Termite is in the void, but Cosmogrog will gladly tag along. Assuming I have time to play when we head out. :/

AkenBosch · Feb 16, 2019

Finally found some time to fly again yesterday, decided to head for the Pleiades to see what I could eventually find along the way. Found this:

[video=youtube_share;xhVNhZuMag8]https://youtu.be/xhVNhZuMag8[/video]

https://www.edsm.net/en/system/bodies/id/24646/name/HIP+17999/details/idB/284557/nameB/HIP+17999+1+a

Sadly it's a bit on the large side with its 1000 km radius, but it offered some splendid views...

Yellow landscapes:

Cyan eclipses:

Red mists:

If only mist had been magenta instead of brown/red, I'd have called this "Planet Epson".

Also, totally off-topic but this paintjob from the Gravity Pack gives the "Asp in front of things" subject an all new reason to keep existing.

EDIT - just got back in game, same fumarole, different time of the day:

SushiCW · Feb 16, 2019

AkenBosch said:
Finally found some time to fly again yesterday, decided to head for the Pleiades to see what I could eventually find along the way. Found this:

https://www.edsm.net/en/system/bodies/id/24646/name/HIP+17999/details/idB/284557/nameB/HIP+17999+1+a

Really nice find!

Florenus · Feb 17, 2019

AkenBosch said:
Finally found some time to fly again yesterday, decided to head for the Pleiades to see what I could eventually find along the way. Found this:
https://www.edsm.net/en/system/bodies/id/24646/name/HIP+17999/details/idB/284557/nameB/HIP+17999+1+a
Sadly it's a bit on the large side with its 1000 km radius, but it offered some splendid views...

As I was nearby, I flew to see this one for myself.
Really nice colors this planet has.

Maybe it's too big for this circumnavigation, but nice to look at nevertheless. For 30 minutes I slowly drifted through those canyons.
I've parked there for the night, must see those blue mountains tomorrow.

Alec Turner · Feb 17, 2019

AkenBosch said:
Finally found some time to fly again yesterday, decided to head for the Pleiades to see what I could eventually find along the way. Found this:

https://www.edsm.net/en/system/bodies/id/24646/name/HIP+17999/details/idB/284557/nameB/HIP+17999+1+a

Sadly it's a bit on the large side with its 1000 km radius, but it offered some splendid views...

Yellow landscapes:

Cyan eclipses:

Red mists:

If only mist had been magenta instead of brown/red, I'd have called this "Planet Epson".

Also, totally off-topic but this paintjob from the Gravity Pack gives the "Asp in front of things" subject an all new reason to keep existing.

EDIT - just got back in game, same fumarole, different time of the day:

Looks beautiful, love the colouring. Too big tho' I think.

AkenBosch · Feb 17, 2019

Yes I think the same, as I wrote above, a 1000 km radius means driving for more than 6000 km even without taking any deviation into account, quite a bit too much me thinks.

Currently still in the Pleiades doing a quick survey for any possible candidate (with a chance of alien stuff), and generally enjoying the Asp I guiltily hadn't flown for years, I'll let you know if I stumble into anything worth.

Alec Turner · Feb 17, 2019

tazbert said:
One more possible, T Tauri A 2 A

The Hind Nebula is gorgeous!

Oooh, now this is a candidate!

Really should be called the horsehead nebula!

Some great views ..

Decided to head over to those volcanics in the distance ..

Nice challenging journey ..

One of the biggest fumaroles I've ever seen ..

And yes, a little bit of ~~the old madness~~ drawing surface research ..

AkenBosch · Feb 17, 2019

Random loosely related thoughts:

[video=youtube;zSAJ0l4OBHM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAJ0l4OBHM[/video]

Also, I approve of such a place.

Alec Turner · Feb 18, 2019

Alec Turner said:
Oooh, now this is a candidate!

Really should be called the horsehead nebula!

Some great views ..

Decided to head over to those volcanics in the distance ..

Nice challenging journey ..

One of the biggest fumaroles I've ever seen ..

And yes, a little bit of ~~the old madness~~ drawing surface research ..

More from T Tauri A 2 A which really is a wonderous place ..

Even has its own tourist beacon ..

I'm torn between three now. T Tauri A 2 A with it's glorious views of the Hind nebula (plus some geological and biological POIs and a tourist beacon), then there's MCC 460 1 with it's sulphurous yellow surface, rolling terrain, geological POIs and selection of human settlements including a large ringed city ..

.. and lastly there's 25 Nu-2 Draconis 3D which has no POIs but some really stunning stark landscape to explore ..

Does anyone think I've missed any of the absolute best candidates? (there were quite a few suggestions recently so speak up if you think I've missed one of yours that's worth considering). Otherwise I'll be revisiting all three of the above and making a decision this week (feel free to chip in with own preferences).

Alec Turner · Feb 18, 2019

Short travel video from T Tauri A 2 A ..

[video=youtube_share;kfg0fVAVPto]https://youtu.be/kfg0fVAVPto[/video]

SushiCW · Feb 18, 2019

I think I agree with those top 3 from what I've seen so far, and in roughly the same order. The fact that T Tauri appears to have icy sections in addition to everything else is really putting it over the top for me.

All three are worlds I would be happy to explore in depth.

Nick Sticks · Feb 18, 2019

SushiCW said:
I think I agree with those top 3 from what I've seen so far, and in roughly the same order. The fact that T Tauri appears to have icy sections in addition to everything else is really putting it over the top for me.

All three are worlds I would be happy to explore in depth.

I'd be happy with any of them.

VR tazbert · Feb 21, 2019

Alec Turner said:
I may need to go and do something else for a bit, I seem to have gone slightly insane!

Real life seems to have you beat....

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/20/pilot_spells_it_out_im_bored/

Alec Turner · Feb 21, 2019

tazbert said:
Real life seems to have you beat....

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/20/pilot_spells_it_out_im_bored/

LOL, awesome.

P.S. quick update - had some RL interruptions last couple of days and then I found myself doing some Thargoid Scout bashing in Celaeno. I'm done now tho' and have lots of time coming up over the weekend so I'm paying a last visit to the top three, final decision and then a new thread will appear for us to start planning a route around the winning planet.

Alec Turner · Feb 22, 2019

Alec Turner said:
I'm torn between three now. T Tauri A 2 A with it's glorious views of the Hind nebula (plus some geological and biological POIs and a tourist beacon), then there's MCC 460 1 with it's sulphurous yellow surface, rolling terrain, geological POIs and selection of human settlements including a large ringed city ..

.. and lastly there's 25 Nu-2 Draconis 3D which has no POIs but some really stunning stark landscape to explore ..

Does anyone think I've missed any of the absolute best candidates? (there were quite a few suggestions recently so speak up if you think I've missed one of yours that's worth considering). Otherwise I'll be revisiting all three of the above and making a decision this week (feel free to chip in with own preferences).

.. and the winner is ..

drumroll

.. none of the above! So I was checking out T Tauri A 2 A again and, terrific tho' it was, I came to a realisation. I didn't like the visual texture of its surface which just felt too blocky/gamey and, coupled with its pinky/purplish colour, just started to look far too much like cured meat. In the end I just knew it would start to bug me.

So, on a whim I decided to check out neighbours A 1 A and A 1 B.

Let's start with A 1 A. So, same sky view as A 2 A (Hind nebula + a ringed gas giant), gravity of 0.09 and this one has both geological and biological POI's. Let's take a closer look ..

.. then I jumped down to those fumaroles in the valley below ..

[video=youtube_share;y6Ho7_xM2Ds]https://youtu.be/y6Ho7_xM2Ds[/video]

All very beautiful (although, and I am being REALLY picky now, surface textures still had a tendency to be a bit artificial sometimes). It's also quite a lot bigger than A 2 A with a radius of 769 km!

.. and now A 1 B. Again, same sky view, slightly smaller than A 1 A, a rather cool gravity of 0.07 (o7!) and bark mounds but alas no fumaroles. Let's take a look at this one ..

I'm not sure the photos do it justice but there's just something about the surface of this planet, much like 25 Nu-2 Draconis 3 D which feels real, where the others feel slightly artificial and I have to say it's a massive influencing factor for me. This place was an absolute joy to explore.

Oh, and I had an amusing encounter with a WANTED NPC I stumbled across in a little crater ..

How's this for "white van man" parking!

I tried to get a shot of him exploding right in front of me but he didn't like being shot by the SRV, woke up and chased me about 5km before the cops showed up and took him down.

[haha]

Anyway, if you haven't guessed already, I think the final winner is ..

T Tauri A 1 B

[video=youtube_share;ouJCmgBw6vo]https://youtu.be/ouJCmgBw6vo[/video]

Did you spot that massive crater just on the edge of the dark! I think that has to be a waypoint! [yesnod]

Sorry there's no volcanics but you know what - we're gonna spend days (weeks?) looking at the terrain and about half an hour admiring the POIs so terrain, texture (plus that amazing view in the sky) wins the day.

AkenBosch · Feb 22, 2019

Alec Turner said:
Sorry there's no volcanics but you know what - we're gonna spend days (weeks?) looking at the terrain and about half an hour admiring the POIs so terrain, texture (plus that amazing view in the sky) wins the day.

Can't argue with that, looks like sound reasoning. Judging by screens alone, for me T Tauri A 1 B is a deal. [up]

Of course, if there were geysers for some bit of jumping contest, that could have been a jackpot

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