I wrote up for myself a bunch of systems in the Vulcan Gate region, but then I had an idea later: why not compile all of them into a public list and share it with others? Especially if other interesting systems will be found here too, or if I missed any.
So, with that in mind, here's a CMDR's Guide to the Galaxy: Region 32, Vulcan Gate! (Apologies to Douglas Adams.)
First off, the Stationary Carriers which have reported that they'll stay at their locations for the foreseeable future:
Locations of interest:
The Ovomly sector: early on in the game's history, the Ovomly sector was notable for a large number of its systems having been bugged and the sector having its own permit lock. Many of them would flicker and disappear on the galaxy map, and couldn't be targeted. When this bug was fixed, the permit lock was gone as well. A few explorers who went there afterward found nothing of interest in the sector, and for years, it saw little to no traffic. When the Beyond: Chapter Four update added Notable Stellar Phenomena and torus molluscs were found several months later, the Ovomly sector saw renewed (if still relatively small) interest. Explorers have found a number of locations of interest around it, so if you visit this area, here are some nearby places of interest:
Of course, there are other places of interest elsewhere in the region, just not many because the region remains rather lightly explored:
Then there should also be a lost location in the region:
Nebulae:
This region has only two large nebulae, and since both of them have relatively few stars in their vicinity, they have been thoroughly explored by today.
Planetary Nebulae:
This region hosts a seemingly higher than usual number of planetary nebulae, when compared to other areas outside the galactic core. (The core itself is positively teeming with them.) Here are the currently known ones, and their systems' contents:
Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any locations in the region that you think are interesting! If I think so too, I'll add them above.
So, with that in mind, here's a CMDR's Guide to the Galaxy: Region 32, Vulcan Gate! (Apologies to Douglas Adams.)
First off, the Stationary Carriers which have reported that they'll stay at their locations for the foreseeable future:
- DSSA Inverness: Thraikoo PS-U e2-4: Repair, Armoury, Redemption Office, Shipyard, Universal Cartographics available. The carrier is inside a Planetary Nebula, so the system offers come colourful views. This is the only PN system in the region that has a Water World - and if that planet were 3 K warmer, it would have been classified as an Earth-like World instead. The Ovomly sector with its sights is a short distance away from this system.
- DSSA Ijon Tichy: Blie Phla GU-N b20-0: Refuel, Repair, Armoury, Redemption Office, Shipyard, Outfitting, Universal Cartographics available. The system has an uncommon sight: a ringed Water World that doesn't have an atmosphere. The two nebulae of the region are relatively close by.
Locations of interest:
The Ovomly sector: early on in the game's history, the Ovomly sector was notable for a large number of its systems having been bugged and the sector having its own permit lock. Many of them would flicker and disappear on the galaxy map, and couldn't be targeted. When this bug was fixed, the permit lock was gone as well. A few explorers who went there afterward found nothing of interest in the sector, and for years, it saw little to no traffic. When the Beyond: Chapter Four update added Notable Stellar Phenomena and torus molluscs were found several months later, the Ovomly sector saw renewed (if still relatively small) interest. Explorers have found a number of locations of interest around it, so if you visit this area, here are some nearby places of interest:
- Torus Molluscs: white dwarf stars within 500 ly of the Ovomly KU-O b36-1 system, but since the white dwarfs are localized in a layer, the molluscs are only found in a slice of the sphere.
The torus molluscs themselves are small, and cannot be sampled with limpets. This area is one of the only two known areas where Calcite Plates (static NSP content) can be found.
Useful reference systems to visit for Codex completion: Ovomly AA-H d10-13, Ovomly DA-Q d5-16, Ovomly HG-O d6-0, Ovomly SS-K d8-8. - Ovomly PD-R d5-3: "Ovomly Rings" GMP location
A ringed gas giant (with water-based life) with enormous outer rings. Since the general area has a number of other systems of interest, this is a good place to drop by too. - Ovomly SS-K d8-11: a rare example of an Earth-like world in a system where the primary star is a white dwarf, although the planet itself orbits the second star instead, which is an M red dwarf.
- Thraikoo FL-P d5-97: "Blooming with life" tourist beacon
A tourist beacon that was placed by Frontier following a competition. The system has several planets with lots of Odyssey lifeforms (10 out of 15 genera), and an Earth-like world that co-orbits four stars. This beacon is also quite the outlier, the nearest ones are almost ten thousand lightyears away. - Thraikoo PS-U e2-4: as mentioned above, this is a planetary nebula with the DSSA Inverness carrier stationed here.
- Flyoo Hypooe KK-G b30-11: an extremely rare configuration: the only planet in this system is an Earth-like world, and the only stars are L and T dwarfs. Such lighting gives ELWs a reddish hue, making their lands appear more barren.
Of course, there are other places of interest elsewhere in the region, just not many because the region remains rather lightly explored:
- Fojea HG-X d1-1: "11 In a Row" GMP location
A system with a record number of 11 primary stars, but only 2 bodies in the system, both of which are landable. It's right on the Southern border, in an inter-arm region with sparse stars, so ships with higher jump ranges are recommended. - Iowhaiwsy OU-M d8-0: a small system with an interesting landable moon. It orbits an Earth-like world that orbits a neutron star, but more importantly, it has a complex atmosphere: although the game classifies it as "thin carbon dioxide-rich", it's 91% O2 and only 8.8% CO2. All this should allow for some unique views. The moon is also a candidate for terraforming, but unfortunately, its surface gravity is too high to house any life other than bacteria or strata.
- Flya Hypooe CS-B d13-3: a rare example of an Earth-like world orbiting a solitary CJ carbon star. Worth visiting if you haven't seen one already, as the light gives the planet a distinct green tint.
- Lyruesly IR-D d12-45: a ringed Earth-like world orbits a ringed class IV gas giant as its fourth moon. Since it has an inclined orbit, the views of the two ring systems should be varied, although the moon has an orbital period of 86.5 days. The system has a wide assortment of other planets and moons too, many of them landable.
- Campbell's Hydrogen Star:
This is the in-game name of the system. Campbell's Hydrogen Star is a planetary nebula in real life, but not in Elite. Unfortunately, there are no bodies in the system. Unless you're interested in Wolf-Rayet stars, there's nothing to visit for here. - Froadik permit-locked area:
This permit-locked area's center is located in the neighbouring Orion-Cygnus Arm region, but a small part of the sphere crosses over into Vulcan Gate. Nothing of interest has been found around here. (Nor around any of the other distant permit locks.)
Then there should also be a lost location in the region:
The First, Lost Green Gas Giant:
Back in 2015, CMDR Eryn Liamson was the first one to post a photo of an elusive Green Gas Giant, see here. However, he forgot to note down the system name, and couldn't find it again later, so the location is lost to us. Going by memory, he said that it was somewhere along the Perseus Crags, which was a fanfic area designation that's now mostly covered by the Vulcan Gate in-game region.
Back in 2015, CMDR Eryn Liamson was the first one to post a photo of an elusive Green Gas Giant, see here. However, he forgot to note down the system name, and couldn't find it again later, so the location is lost to us. Going by memory, he said that it was somewhere along the Perseus Crags, which was a fanfic area designation that's now mostly covered by the Vulcan Gate in-game region.
Nebulae:
This region has only two large nebulae, and since both of them have relatively few stars in their vicinity, they have been thoroughly explored by today.
- Crooki AA-A h1 nebula , reference system: Crooki PX-V c17-5
Notable for being the Western-most procedurally generated "large" nebula, and also for being surprisingly small: it's barely larger than a planetary nebula. Since the star density in its vicinity is somewhat low, don't expect to find untagged systems anywhere close to it. - Floagh AA-A h56 nebula , reference system: Floagh FI-B d13-1
A relatively large nebula that's well below the galactic plane, which unfortunately means that there are few stars around it. Its location provides some nice views of the galaxy, so if you're in the area, it could be worth visiting for tourism, but for exploration, don't expect to find untagged systems here either.
Planetary Nebulae:
This region hosts a seemingly higher than usual number of planetary nebulae, when compared to other areas outside the galactic core. (The core itself is positively teeming with them.) Here are the currently known ones, and their systems' contents:
Planetary Nebulae with bodies present in the system:
Planetary Nebulae without any bodies in the system:
There's also a real, unreachable planetary nebula: NGC 6879, reference system CSI+16-20082. It's roughly 3,200 ly from the galactic plane, and the nearest stars are estimated to be around 2,000 ly from it. Although as far as I'm aware, nobody has tried to bring a fleet carrier there to the area to see if maybe the nebula can be reached.
A number of these PNs are missing their first discoverers, I plan to fill those in later. In the meantime though, if anybody knows who tagged their main stars, let me know please!
- Bloo Eaeb UY-A e8: a neutron star, with a small number of varied bodies, including some landable (non-atmospheric) planets. Discovered by CMDR Spock Oddsocks.
- Blooe Dryue AQ-X e1-11: black hole primary and an F star. Three bodies, none of which are landable. Discovered by CMDR Hooten.
- Bya Phla WP-P e5-8: neutron star and an A star, with a nice assortment of landable (non-atmospheric) bodies: Metal Rich, High Metal Content, Rocky. Discovered by CMDRs Dutch Foster and Issac Asmoiv.
- Ellogy DF-A e14: the system consists of a single icy body in a far orbit around a black hole. It's extremely cold, but sadly, its helium atmosphere is too dense for the planet to be landable. (0.99 atm, and the surface temperature is 20 K.) Discovered by CMDR Wolfpack15.
- Fojaae IL-Y e14: another extremely lonely system, this one consists of a black hole and an icy asteroid belt around it. Nothing else remains. Discovered by CMDR Schizrade.
- Prai Hypae NX-T e3-7: a neutron star and two other stars, and a lone gas giant that orbits all of them and has seven moons. Sorry folks, no Raxxla here.
- Thraikoo PS-U e2-4: location of the DSSA Inverness stationary carrier, a water world and an assortment of landable (non-atmospheric) bodies. Discovered by CMDR Marx.
Planetary Nebulae without any bodies in the system:
- Blie Phlue LX-U e2-14: black hole primary and a K star, no bodies.
- Flyiedgoe XJ-A e1: a neutron star, a G and an A star, no bodies.
- Flyue Hypae OI-S e4-10: a neutron star and an A star, no bodies.
- Lyruelks FL-P e5-41: a neutron star, an F and an A star, no bodies. Discovered by CMDR Quade.
- Pria Phlai ON-T e3-2: a neutron star, a K star and an M star, no bodies. Discovered by CMDR Exar Spire.
- Prue Eaeb SO-Z e31: a neutron star, an F star and a G star, no bodies. Discovered by CMDR Lazarhyperion.
- Pyralau IX-T e3-18: a black hole and nothing else.
- Stroifooe QD-S e4-0: a black hole and an F star, no bodies. Discovered by CMDR Fen Harel.
There's also a real, unreachable planetary nebula: NGC 6879, reference system CSI+16-20082. It's roughly 3,200 ly from the galactic plane, and the nearest stars are estimated to be around 2,000 ly from it. Although as far as I'm aware, nobody has tried to bring a fleet carrier there to the area to see if maybe the nebula can be reached.
A number of these PNs are missing their first discoverers, I plan to fill those in later. In the meantime though, if anybody knows who tagged their main stars, let me know please!
Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any locations in the region that you think are interesting! If I think so too, I'll add them above.
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