(Important note - there is a major change in mechanics, coming at the end of 2018, that will allow surveying surface with probes. It will make the process much simpler and hopefully more rewarding, so you may as well wait till then)
To find the brain trees first you must look for suitable candidate. So far I managed to find them on landable volcanic bodies with temperature between 200K and 500K. I do not think the actual size matters, but it is far more difficult to find them on big bodies (radius 2000km and more) as the craters I search for become very big. Anything below 1000km is fairly easy to search.
We found them so far only in vinicity of Ancient Ruins left by extinct race of Guardians. The first were discovered in Col 173 sector. The area where you can find trees there spreads over 1000ly, so this is where I would look to begin with as it is very easy to find one.
Once you have the candidate body you have to bring up the surface map and look for something called ejecta crater (or splash crater), this is simply a crater with two features, there are radial lines coming out of it and the bottom is flat (most of the craters are bowl shaped). Lines are very faint on ice bodies, in this case check the shape of the bottom.
Examples of ejecta craters:
Rocky body:
Visible on system map - very distinct lines:
This one has lines, but very faint, easier to recognize it by flat bottom:
Ice body:
Visible on system map, no lines but recognizable flat bottom:
If there is such crater then the fastest way to check it is to set your scanner on maximum range and enter the glide before the center of it.
Most of ejecta craters have something right in the middle - if you are in the area where brain trees exist you will find them, if not you will find mineable rock (the one you can break with your laser and get mats).
Both of them show identical POI - initially very big (fills whole scanner), after a while it blinks and shrinks rapidly to tiny (few pixels one), which indicates stuff you have to check. There is nothing on the ground before the blink happens, so cruise around until you get it. Exit the glide and position yourself directly above POI (it disappears below 1.6 km so stay higher until you are in right position), then slowly descent.
With good light you can see the trees from about 3km. It is a good idea to listen, because you can hear the special noise brain trees make from 400m, so if it is dark or you are not directly above the site the sound can help.
If you cannot see anything then you probably found the mineable rock. Usually they are slightly different colour than the rest, and are visible from around 200m.
(example of such rock - when people say, there is a POI but cannot find anything on the ground, probably there is this type of rock somewhere near) As they may be difficult to pinpoint you can make it easier using this technique - https://youtu.be/maP_JZeihaI
One gets big, shrinking POIs only on rocky and rocky ice bodies, on icy it is small straight away, so more difficult to find, but as icy bodies with temperature over 200K are rare find, so it is not an issue.
The biggest area we found the brain trees is sector Col 173, example of a system close to the bubble is Synuefe PJ-D b46-10, body 3, coordinates 63.4538 // 93.4521, only 376 ly from Sol. From here they go as far as Flyua Dryoae FT-F d12-29 which is 1800ly from Sol.
Locations:
Apart from that we found them in and around following nebulae:
Prai Hypoo - 12000ly from Sol (Prai Hypoo AA-A H60 )
Blaa Hypai - 12000ly from Sol ( Blaa Hypai AA-A H68 )
NGC 3199 - 15000ly from Sol
Eta Carina - 9000ly from Sol
Skaudai - 12000ly from Sol ( Skaudai AA-A H71 )
Eorl Auwsy - 21000ly from Sol ( Eorl Auwsy AA-A H72)
Ejecta lines:
Apart from the brain trees in the middle of ejecta crater you can quite often find them outside in the ejecta lines.
It is hard to say if there will be any trees there, but I would expect some. Example of such place is HIP 37610 A 6 C A where I found 12 such places with one of the big craters having 5 additional brain trees around.
Tips:
- If the first crater you check does not have brain trees then always check another one. I is not uncommon for some of them to have a rock. I always check at least two craters.
- If you not getting the blink, then enter the orbital cruise and immediately exit it, typically it helps.
- Do not rely on habitable zone of main star only when searching for candidates, if it is 200-400ls and you will have hot giant on 3000ls orbit then its moons may have right temperature, I typically scan the giant and if it is hotter than 300K then check the moons as well
Video clip that shows how the POI work. At 2 minutes mark you can see how to go about brain trees, but you should watch entire thing to get the idea how the tick, and other things work, if you looking for brain trees you may as well find some geysers and other stuff:
[video=youtube_share;RLGpfOyz9to]https://youtu.be/RLGpfOyz9to[/video]
This is work in progress, I will update this post with more information and newest finds.
Good luck
Useful links:
Canonn list of Brain Trees
Spansh Plotter - you can use it to find right candidates, works best in known areas like Col 173
To find the brain trees first you must look for suitable candidate. So far I managed to find them on landable volcanic bodies with temperature between 200K and 500K. I do not think the actual size matters, but it is far more difficult to find them on big bodies (radius 2000km and more) as the craters I search for become very big. Anything below 1000km is fairly easy to search.
We found them so far only in vinicity of Ancient Ruins left by extinct race of Guardians. The first were discovered in Col 173 sector. The area where you can find trees there spreads over 1000ly, so this is where I would look to begin with as it is very easy to find one.
Once you have the candidate body you have to bring up the surface map and look for something called ejecta crater (or splash crater), this is simply a crater with two features, there are radial lines coming out of it and the bottom is flat (most of the craters are bowl shaped). Lines are very faint on ice bodies, in this case check the shape of the bottom.
Examples of ejecta craters:
Rocky body:
Visible on system map - very distinct lines:
This one has lines, but very faint, easier to recognize it by flat bottom:
Ice body:
Visible on system map, no lines but recognizable flat bottom:
If there is such crater then the fastest way to check it is to set your scanner on maximum range and enter the glide before the center of it.
Most of ejecta craters have something right in the middle - if you are in the area where brain trees exist you will find them, if not you will find mineable rock (the one you can break with your laser and get mats).
Both of them show identical POI - initially very big (fills whole scanner), after a while it blinks and shrinks rapidly to tiny (few pixels one), which indicates stuff you have to check. There is nothing on the ground before the blink happens, so cruise around until you get it. Exit the glide and position yourself directly above POI (it disappears below 1.6 km so stay higher until you are in right position), then slowly descent.
With good light you can see the trees from about 3km. It is a good idea to listen, because you can hear the special noise brain trees make from 400m, so if it is dark or you are not directly above the site the sound can help.
If you cannot see anything then you probably found the mineable rock. Usually they are slightly different colour than the rest, and are visible from around 200m.
(example of such rock - when people say, there is a POI but cannot find anything on the ground, probably there is this type of rock somewhere near) As they may be difficult to pinpoint you can make it easier using this technique - https://youtu.be/maP_JZeihaI
One gets big, shrinking POIs only on rocky and rocky ice bodies, on icy it is small straight away, so more difficult to find, but as icy bodies with temperature over 200K are rare find, so it is not an issue.
The biggest area we found the brain trees is sector Col 173, example of a system close to the bubble is Synuefe PJ-D b46-10, body 3, coordinates 63.4538 // 93.4521, only 376 ly from Sol. From here they go as far as Flyua Dryoae FT-F d12-29 which is 1800ly from Sol.
Locations:
Apart from that we found them in and around following nebulae:
Prai Hypoo - 12000ly from Sol (Prai Hypoo AA-A H60 )
Blaa Hypai - 12000ly from Sol ( Blaa Hypai AA-A H68 )
NGC 3199 - 15000ly from Sol
Eta Carina - 9000ly from Sol
Skaudai - 12000ly from Sol ( Skaudai AA-A H71 )
Eorl Auwsy - 21000ly from Sol ( Eorl Auwsy AA-A H72)
Ejecta lines:
Apart from the brain trees in the middle of ejecta crater you can quite often find them outside in the ejecta lines.
It is hard to say if there will be any trees there, but I would expect some. Example of such place is HIP 37610 A 6 C A where I found 12 such places with one of the big craters having 5 additional brain trees around.
brain trees within ejecta lines:
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -7.4327 108.8068
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 30.3024 133.0154
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -20.8729 155.9022
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -29.8723 -70.3326
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -58.4948 -87.2587
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -58.9494 -51.9721
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -69.7909 -121.1664
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 35.1009 155.0964
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 39.5774 174.3157
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 46.9319 87.7625
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 56.2855 172.0577
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -19.9963 -82.9471
marked locations on below screenshot are not exact, but more or less where the sites are:
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -7.4327 108.8068
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 30.3024 133.0154
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -20.8729 155.9022
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -29.8723 -70.3326
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -58.4948 -87.2587
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -58.9494 -51.9721
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -69.7909 -121.1664
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 35.1009 155.0964
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 39.5774 174.3157
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 46.9319 87.7625
HIP 37610 A 6 C A 56.2855 172.0577
HIP 37610 A 6 C A -19.9963 -82.9471
marked locations on below screenshot are not exact, but more or less where the sites are:
Tips:
- If the first crater you check does not have brain trees then always check another one. I is not uncommon for some of them to have a rock. I always check at least two craters.
- If you not getting the blink, then enter the orbital cruise and immediately exit it, typically it helps.
- Do not rely on habitable zone of main star only when searching for candidates, if it is 200-400ls and you will have hot giant on 3000ls orbit then its moons may have right temperature, I typically scan the giant and if it is hotter than 300K then check the moons as well
Video clip that shows how the POI work. At 2 minutes mark you can see how to go about brain trees, but you should watch entire thing to get the idea how the tick, and other things work, if you looking for brain trees you may as well find some geysers and other stuff:
[video=youtube_share;RLGpfOyz9to]https://youtu.be/RLGpfOyz9to[/video]
This is work in progress, I will update this post with more information and newest finds.
Good luck
Useful links:
Canonn list of Brain Trees
Spansh Plotter - you can use it to find right candidates, works best in known areas like Col 173
Last edited:
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