Fuel scooping in non-main sequence stars

[Shinji Ikari]

I'm not sure this is official but I believe the fuel scoop works by grabbing hydrogen out of the Corona of stars in SC.

If this were to be the case, why can't we fuel scoop from Wolf Rayyet, T-Tauri or Herbig stars?

Wolf Rayyets actually are characteristic for their incredibly strong solar wind so if anything they should give you more fuel. T-Tauris definetly don't have much solar wind as they are still in the process of compression although that doesn't mean they don't eject gas and either way, they have a protoplanetary disk from which you could also fuel scoop, Herbigs are just very massive T-Tauris so the logic goes the same way.

 

[iain666]

Because reasons, that's why.

If there's some lore reason I don't know what it is, if we're just scooping hydrogen then we should be able to refuel with a low pass on a gas giant as well.

I think this is one that's been decided for gameplay reasons rather than anything else.

 

[damon8r351]

Think it actually has something to do with the hydrogen fusion process, because our fuel is hydrogen. We can't scoop from stars where the process isn't taking place or is polluted with heavier elements. In T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars, the process hasn't started yet because they're young stars that are not yet done with contracting into a main sequence star. Brown dwarves are not massive enough for that process to ever start. Carbon stars because, you know, full of carbon. Wolf-Rayet stars contain fusion of heavier elements, so you could say they're "polluted". White dwarves, neutron stars, and black holes, that process has long since stopped. I wish I was more familiar with the science so I could explain it better, but that's how I understand it.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Because reasons, that's why.

If there's some lore reason I don't know what it is, if we're just scooping hydrogen then we should be able to refuel with a low pass on a gas giant as well.

I think this is one that's been decided for gameplay reasons rather than anything else.

It probably was a gameplay reason although Wolf Rayyets and Herbigs are rare enough that it wouldn't hurt to fuel scoop from them.

Think it actually has something to do with the hydrogen fusion process. We can't scoop from stars where the process isn't taking place. In T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars, the process hasn't started yet because they're young stars that are not yet done with contracting into a main sequence star. Brown dwarves are not massive enough for that process to ever start. Wolf-Rayet stars contain fusion of heavier elements, so you could say they're "polluted". White dwarves, neutron stars, and black holes, that process has long since stopped. I wish I was more familiar with the science so I could explain it better, but that's how I understand it.

You are right in that but Wolf Rayyets make all sorts of nuclear fusion depending on its age in multiple shells.

 

[damon8r351]

It probably was a gameplay reason although Wolf Rayyets and Herbigs are rare enough that it wouldn't hurt to fuel scoop from them.



You are right in that but Wolf Rayyets make all sorts of nuclear fusion depending on its age in multiple shells.

Yeah, and I get what you're saying, but I'm reading the Wikipedia article right now on Wolf-Rayet stars, and they say that certain populations do still fuse hydrogen, but also still contain significant amounts of nitrogen in their spectral lines. So what I think the game is saying is that the process has to be "pure", and everything I'm reading about WR stars says "Yes, they may fuse hydrogen in certain cases (which are known as WNh class), but...". I wish I could explain it better, but it makes a small amount of sense to me why we can't scoop WR stars.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Yeah, and I get what you're saying, but I'm reading the Wikipedia article right now on Wolf-Rayet stars, and they say that certain populations do still fuse hydrogen, but also still contain significant amounts of nitrogen in their spectral lines. So what I think the game is saying is that the process has to be "pure", and everything I'm reading about WR stars says "Yes, they may fuse hydrogen in certain cases (which are known as WNh class), but...". I wish I could explain it better, but it makes a small amount of sense to me why we can't scoop WR stars.

I guess that makes sense although all stars have traces of metals unless they are population I.

 

[Chrystoph]

I'm not sure this is official but I believe the fuel scoop works by grabbing hydrogen out of the Corona of stars in SC.

The lore is a bit difficult to find, but you are actually scooping plasma from the star and encasing it in a crystalline matrix. It has to be plasma from a main sequence star. I got it out of one of the official stories from the Elite: Dangerous fiction.

I can't say I care for the "science", but that is the reason.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

The lore is a bit difficult to find, but you are actually scooping plasma from the star and encasing it in a crystalline matrix. It has to be plasma from a main sequence star. I got it out of one of the official stories from the Elite: Dangerous fiction.

I can't say I care for the "science", but that is the reason.

I see, good to know.