Don't read if you don't want exploration spoilers.
So, I was hunting nearby black holes in my combat Cobra (I don't have much jump range so I'm not going farther than 1000 ly for now).
I've been to the Maia system in the Pleiades, and while the nebula is very nice I was a bit disappointed by its black hole, which is just over 2 solar masses big.
Then I went to the BD+28 4211 system, which is only 280 ly from Sol and has two black holes, one 5 and one 7 solar masses big. Those two had nice lensing effects if you watch them while having the galactic disk in the background and I was pretty enthusiastic.
Then, on my way to the Witch Head nebula, I decided to stop at the Mintaka system.
HOLY FREAKING HELL!
If you like black holes, you gotta visit the place! It's just 700 ly from Sol and it has a 37 solar masses big black hole. You can see the lensing effects from as much as 5 ls away, and when you get close, aside from being able to see the black hole itself in the middle, the distortion gets crazy! Everything gets confused even when you are not facing it, it really is amazing!
I'll post pictures and maybe a video later tonight, but I suggest you astronomy nuts to go out there and see it for yourself, it is really really cool!
So, I was hunting nearby black holes in my combat Cobra (I don't have much jump range so I'm not going farther than 1000 ly for now).
I've been to the Maia system in the Pleiades, and while the nebula is very nice I was a bit disappointed by its black hole, which is just over 2 solar masses big.
Then I went to the BD+28 4211 system, which is only 280 ly from Sol and has two black holes, one 5 and one 7 solar masses big. Those two had nice lensing effects if you watch them while having the galactic disk in the background and I was pretty enthusiastic.
Then, on my way to the Witch Head nebula, I decided to stop at the Mintaka system.
HOLY FREAKING HELL!
If you like black holes, you gotta visit the place! It's just 700 ly from Sol and it has a 37 solar masses big black hole. You can see the lensing effects from as much as 5 ls away, and when you get close, aside from being able to see the black hole itself in the middle, the distortion gets crazy! Everything gets confused even when you are not facing it, it really is amazing!
I'll post pictures and maybe a video later tonight, but I suggest you astronomy nuts to go out there and see it for yourself, it is really really cool!
