So....looking at the galaxy map and I see star types in my target system listed as:
F6 V8, M1 VA, M3 VA, M7 VA
what's all that about?
F6 V8, M1 VA, M3 VA, M7 VA
what's all that about?
Star Types explainer:
- Thread starter Lngjohnsilver1
- Start date
Check this out, should be pretty close:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification
In brief;
First bit refers to the spectrum (and temperature) of the star. From hottest to coldest,
OBAFGKM (ordinary stars) LTY (brown dwarfs)
Second is a subdivision of the temperature in that range, running from 0 (hottest) to 9 (coldest.)
So a G0 star is hotter than a G2 star, for example. Or a G9 star is just a little hotter than a K0 star.
Third is a description of the luminosity of the star, but in practical terms it means how big the star is:
0 - hypergiant
I - supergiant
II - bright giant
III - giant
IV - subgiant
V - dwarf (main sequence (ordinary stars))
VI - subdwarf
VII - white dwarfs
Some of these are further subdivided into for instance VA and VB, but that's not really important.
Note that the size descriptions are relative when it comes to stars - main sequence stars are technically dwarfs, but that's only in comparison to giant stars.
So for instance:
F6 VB - quite hot (F6) dwarf (VB)
M1 VA - cool (M1) dwarf (VA)
M3 VA - cooler (M3) dwarf (VA)
First bit refers to the spectrum (and temperature) of the star. From hottest to coldest,
OBAFGKM (ordinary stars) LTY (brown dwarfs)
Second is a subdivision of the temperature in that range, running from 0 (hottest) to 9 (coldest.)
So a G0 star is hotter than a G2 star, for example. Or a G9 star is just a little hotter than a K0 star.
Third is a description of the luminosity of the star, but in practical terms it means how big the star is:
0 - hypergiant
I - supergiant
II - bright giant
III - giant
IV - subgiant
V - dwarf (main sequence (ordinary stars))
VI - subdwarf
VII - white dwarfs
Some of these are further subdivided into for instance VA and VB, but that's not really important.
Note that the size descriptions are relative when it comes to stars - main sequence stars are technically dwarfs, but that's only in comparison to giant stars.
So for instance:
F6 VB - quite hot (F6) dwarf (VB)
M1 VA - cool (M1) dwarf (VA)
M3 VA - cooler (M3) dwarf (VA)
In addition to what Jackie posted, Elite also includes a lesser-used classification (at least AFAIK), Vz. These are the lowest while still main sequence. The Forge only generates these as 0 VZ, so A0 VZ, B0 VZ, and so on, and they stand out because they are the youngest and least luminous; if you go into such a system, don't expect much in the way of valuable planets.
For a nice illustration, take a look at the list of Earth-like worlds, and look up the "By Luminosity" charts. I included the Vz systems on those, and you'll notice there's a huge difference there.
For a nice illustration, take a look at the list of Earth-like worlds, and look up the "By Luminosity" charts. I included the Vz systems on those, and you'll notice there's a huge difference there.
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Apologies for the (relative) necro, but I've been pondering this a lot while jumping on recent exploration trips.
I know the general categories, particularly the A/F/G/K stars, which are the ones I'm most interested in, but there is no logic that I can determine about what follows that designation. For example, I regularly jump into stars that are designated D1, which could be anything from a G to an A class star. I've seen a D1x that was an A-class, and then jumped in to a D9x that was an F-class.
Even more confusingly, I'm currently travelling through a sector where every star seems to have its own category... D569, or D925, or even D1123. So, no big deal, because those stars on my route and I'm not picking them based on category, but I'd like to know the rationale behind these numbers.
I know the general categories, particularly the A/F/G/K stars, which are the ones I'm most interested in, but there is no logic that I can determine about what follows that designation. For example, I regularly jump into stars that are designated D1, which could be anything from a G to an A class star. I've seen a D1x that was an A-class, and then jumped in to a D9x that was an F-class.
Even more confusingly, I'm currently travelling through a sector where every star seems to have its own category... D569, or D925, or even D1123. So, no big deal, because those stars on my route and I'm not picking them based on category, but I'd like to know the rationale behind these numbers.
What you're talking about are the system names, which are only very loosely linked to the star types. The OP is talking about what appears when you click on a system in the Galaxy map and then click on the Info tab, which is currently the only place to see the star class.
For example, let's have a look at a system out in procedurally-generated space: WREDGUIA TM-G c25-4. The star class listed for that system is K0 VZ. You'll notice the "K" isn't directly indicated anywhere in the system name. The spectral class is essentially the star's colour: "K" is "orange". So this system's star is a large (0) orange (K) dwarf (Vz).
This thread has considerable discussion about breaking down and analysing the meaning of the procedurally-generated system names, and what all those letters and numbers actually mean. But in brief summary, the "loose linking" I mentioned between star types and the system name can be seen in the last letter in the system name, the lowercase letter before the string of numbers. That letter is called the "mass code". It essentially determines the approximate mass of the star. The mass code ranges from "a" (smallest) to "h" (largest). Mass code h stars are almost always black holes, Wolf-rayets, or large bright O-class stars. Mass code "d" contains your medium-sized, A and F class stars, as well as neutron stars. Mass code "a" contains just tiny brown dwarfs.
In the system I mentioned above,m the mass code is "c". This is a code for stars which are at the smaller end of the spectrum, ranging from stars about the size of Sol down to small class M red dwarfs. So in mass code "c" systems, you're likely to find the occasional smaller G type star, lots of K type stars, and a few larger M type stars, perhaps the occasional White Dwarf if you're in a white dwarf belt, and not much else.
The numbers that come after the mass code are essentially the "catalogue number" for the star - the number of stars in that subsector with that mass-code. In this case, "c25-4". The "25" actually indicates how far North into Wredguia Sector this particular subsector "TM-G c" is; there are 32768 mass code "c" subsectors in Wredguia Sector and only 17368 possible three-letter combinations, so they've needed to use "TM-G c" at least twice. The last number after the hyphen, "4", indicates that this is the fourth star in the TM-G c25 boxel.
If you want to sort your destinations by star type, ignore the system name, and switch the galaxy map filter to "star class" mode, then deselect all the star types you don't want to visit. Many beginner explorers deselect everything except the scoopables (OBAFGKM), but flying with that set selected will give you a small, boring M-class red dwarf more than half of the time. Experienced planet-hunters will narrow the focus more. Personally, when travelling from place to place I almost always fly with just A, F and G selected, as well as the weird stuff like non-sequence, carbon stars and Wolf-Rayets.
For example, let's have a look at a system out in procedurally-generated space: WREDGUIA TM-G c25-4. The star class listed for that system is K0 VZ. You'll notice the "K" isn't directly indicated anywhere in the system name. The spectral class is essentially the star's colour: "K" is "orange". So this system's star is a large (0) orange (K) dwarf (Vz).
This thread has considerable discussion about breaking down and analysing the meaning of the procedurally-generated system names, and what all those letters and numbers actually mean. But in brief summary, the "loose linking" I mentioned between star types and the system name can be seen in the last letter in the system name, the lowercase letter before the string of numbers. That letter is called the "mass code". It essentially determines the approximate mass of the star. The mass code ranges from "a" (smallest) to "h" (largest). Mass code h stars are almost always black holes, Wolf-rayets, or large bright O-class stars. Mass code "d" contains your medium-sized, A and F class stars, as well as neutron stars. Mass code "a" contains just tiny brown dwarfs.
In the system I mentioned above,m the mass code is "c". This is a code for stars which are at the smaller end of the spectrum, ranging from stars about the size of Sol down to small class M red dwarfs. So in mass code "c" systems, you're likely to find the occasional smaller G type star, lots of K type stars, and a few larger M type stars, perhaps the occasional White Dwarf if you're in a white dwarf belt, and not much else.
The numbers that come after the mass code are essentially the "catalogue number" for the star - the number of stars in that subsector with that mass-code. In this case, "c25-4". The "25" actually indicates how far North into Wredguia Sector this particular subsector "TM-G c" is; there are 32768 mass code "c" subsectors in Wredguia Sector and only 17368 possible three-letter combinations, so they've needed to use "TM-G c" at least twice. The last number after the hyphen, "4", indicates that this is the fourth star in the TM-G c25 boxel.
If you want to sort your destinations by star type, ignore the system name, and switch the galaxy map filter to "star class" mode, then deselect all the star types you don't want to visit. Many beginner explorers deselect everything except the scoopables (OBAFGKM), but flying with that set selected will give you a small, boring M-class red dwarf more than half of the time. Experienced planet-hunters will narrow the focus more. Personally, when travelling from place to place I almost always fly with just A, F and G selected, as well as the weird stuff like non-sequence, carbon stars and Wolf-Rayets.
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Interesting and informative, thanks!
If I'm understanding you correctly, the the things that I thought were confusing me science-wise, are actually just ED geographical descriptors. And what I thought were 'unique star class' designations are just reflecting the fact that there are an awful lot of A and F class stars in my current sector. Which makes more sense than what I thought I was seeing.
Appreciated!
If I'm understanding you correctly, the the things that I thought were confusing me science-wise, are actually just ED geographical descriptors. And what I thought were 'unique star class' designations are just reflecting the fact that there are an awful lot of A and F class stars in my current sector. Which makes more sense than what I thought I was seeing.
Appreciated!
Yes, and yes.
I recently surveyed a Core sector. In the Core, d-masscode system numbers (the final set of digits) can get up over 10000, while c-masscodes routinely were in the thousands. There are an awful, awful lot of star systems in the Core - probably around half of the entire Galactic total of 400 billion - and they're packed in real tight. As anyone who has ever briefly glimpsed the Realistic starmap there can attest.