The Galactic Mapping Project & Historical Archive of Exploration

[roboteconomist]

New POI

POI Name: Retina Nebula
POI Type: Planetary Nebula
GalMap Ref: CD-43 9005

Desc: "The Retina Nebula (IC 4406) is a bipolar nebula first observed by DeLisle Stewart in 1899. The nebular gas cloud features a lattice of dark tendrils that look similar to an eye's retina, which inspired its name. There is a Wolf-Rayet star at the nebula's core that is orbited by a ringed Class V gas giant, a Class IV gas giant, a Class Y brown dwarf and a high metal content lava world. The main star give all of these bodies a bright purple hue."

 

[Heavy Johnson]

New POI

POI Name: RW Cephi
POI Type: Stellar Feature
GalMap Ref: RW Cephi

Desc: "The hypergiant RW Cephi is one of the largest known stars by radius, in the same class as UY Scuti and VY Canis Majoris. The star is a semi-regular variable and has been categorized as anywhere from G8 (yellow) to M0 (red). This has led it to be variously considered as either a red hypergiant or yellow hypergiant at different times. As of 3303, the star is currently of K0 spectral class, and has a significantly diminished size of only 115 solar radius. It is unclear if this is part of the variable cycle or another, unexplained, phenomena."

 

[Heavy Johnson]

New POI

POI Name: V509 Cassiopeiae
POI Type: Stellar Feature
GalMap Ref: V509 Cassiopeiae

Desc: "V509 Cassiopeiae is a yellow hypergiant, one of the rarest types of stars. Current estimates suggest there are no more than 15 of these stars in the entire galaxy. Yellow hypergiants are an extremely short-lived phase of late stellar evolution of massive O-type stars. These stars evolve from red hypergiants to blue hypergiants in a phase that lasts only a few thousand years. Many stars lack the mass to go through this phase, or have a much greater mass and end as a supernova.

V509 Cassiopeiae currently has 11 solar masses and a radius 600 times larger than Sol; this would encompass the Sol system past the orbit of Mars. V509 has varied significantly in temperature and size over periods as short as 1 year, indicating that this phase is highly unstable. The attached photo is from a metal-rich orbiting planet at 2300 light-seconds distance."

 

[Heavy Johnson]

This is a non-procedural planetary nebula that has not been reported yet, so far as I can tell, although the system has been tagged and it features in Jackie Silver's sector map. In response to your request above, I have included a 640*320 close-up, which I just cut, paste and resized from one of the other two images, so it doesn't look that great (but this was from the system closest to the nebula so that's as good as I can manage at my screen resolution).
.
Name: NGC 2452
Map ref: GCRV 5190
Description: a small planetary nebula rich in red and green colours, it is centered on a young star system composed of a lonely B star. Ancient records considered this star to be a Wolf-Rayet but it has clearly been shedding mass into the nebula at a prodigious rate, else it would not have survived to its current age. Nevertheless, it retains sufficient mass to be a candidate for a core collapse supernova in the future.
screenshot reference: http://imgur.com/a/peaii

Corbin, Andrew, etc: It looks like this POI never got entered into the database, could you do it on the next update? Thanks =)

 

[roboteconomist]

New POI

POI Name: NGC 2438 Nebula
POI Type: Planetary Nebula
GalMap Ref: BD-14 2129

Desc: "A double-halo nebula located in the Puppis constellation first observed by William Herschel on March 19, 1786. The nebula was initially believed to lie within the Messier 46 star cluster, but a later analysis of the cluster's radial velocity revealed that the two were, in fact, a superimposed pair. The nebula has a Wolf-Rayet star at its core with no other stellar or planetary bodies."

 

[Whitmann]

POI: Planetary Nebula
Proposed name: Azurite Nebula
GalMap Ref: EOR FREE IM-W E1-3196
Description: Small, double orb nebula, vivid blue in colour fading to lilac in the centre. The system is unremarkable - a neutron star and a lava world - but a mere 1.40 light years away is a system, EOR FREE ES-K C8-2457 which contains a landable, ringed ice world, the surface of which gives spectacular views of both its rings and the nebula.
This system first discovered by Big_Bad_Lynx




- - - Updated - - -

POI: Planetary Nebula
Proposed name: Nebulosa Portuguesa
GalMap Ref: EOR FREE GR-W E1-1826
Description: Small red and green nebula with many shades of colour and a little structure within. Named after the colours of the Portuguese flag which it contains, this nebula was first discovered by NoobMSU93.

 

[Heavy Johnson]

New POI:

Name: NGC 7048
POI type: Planetary Nebula
GalMap Ref: IRAS 21124+4604

Desc: "NGC 7048 is a planetary emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The nebula is mottled orange and green. The external structure was described in the The Deep Sky Field Guide as 'irregular disk with traces of ring structure'. The host star is a Wolf-Rayet of 1.4 solar masses and orbited by a few smaller bodies. NGC 7048 was discovered by Édouard Stephan on 19 October 1878 using a 31.5-inch reflector."

 

[herzbube]

I'm not sure whether the following new POI is outstanding enough for the GMP, but it certainly felt so when I travelled through on the DWE (the location is between waypoint 6 and 7) , so I'm finally submitting it now. Unfortunately I haven't made any good glamour shots except for one 360° panorama (but which may be unsuitable for the GMP). I linked an Imgur album, hopefully you'll find something suitable in there. Also, feel free to make any adjustments to the POI description below.


Name: The Three Kings

Game map search ref: Floawns XE-R D4-45

Description: Located more or less on a direct line from Sol to Sagittarius A*, the Three Kings are a group of three stately orange giant stars attended by a court of other giant stars. The three main systems are very close to each other (approximately 3 ly), while a rough survey of the vicinity at the time of discovery has turned up no less than 12 more giant star systems within a 100 ly radius. It is likely that upon closer scrutiny a few more giants can be found. Outstanding systems among the already discovered giants are: Floawns YE-R D4-346 (a double red giant star system), Floawns YE-R D4-127 and Floawns XE-R D4-59 (a red giant and an orange giant star system, respectively, each with an earth-like world in it), Floawns EG-Y F660 (a blue-white supergiant star system) and Floawns YE-R D4-385 (a carbon star system). The Three Kings should provide a welcome rest stop and sight-seeing diversion for any traveller passing through the region, although Commanders are advised that their vessels may have to detour a bit as the point of interest is located almost 1300 ly below the galactic plane. On the other hand, due to the location visibility of the galactic disc is excellent, and because the area of space contains a great deal of blue-white stars planetary skies are usually full of pretty bright lights. Finally, the main POI system contains 17 landable planets which should provide ample opportunities to stock up on FSD injection and other materials. A definitive survey of the available materials is not yet available, though.

Screenshot reference: http://imgur.com/a/smJJO

 

[Frankymole]

Name: Triple Ripple

Game map search ref: WEPAE EG-Y G1024. Gal Map coordinates: -6292: -754 : 23,967

Description: A triple neutron star system orbiting a primary black hole (quaternary system in total). There is a close pair of neutron stars, orbiting about 3 light seconds apart, which can be flown through like "goal posts", whilst a third, smaller neutron star orbits both with an inclined axis of rotation. Interestingly, the two closely-paired neutron stars cause gravitational lensing around themselves, like a black hole, which can clearly be seen when travelling at speed within a few thousand light seconds of them. A possible tourist destination, but also valuable to any thrill-seekers who want the "buzz" of flying through the middle of a group of close neutron stars.


Screenshot reference: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=120468&d=1494385176
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=120469&d=1494385232
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=120470&d=1494385275

Further Screenshot:

Movie:
[video=youtube;RWCK5xAt9DI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWCK5xAt9DI[/video]

 

[Heavy Johnson]

I'm not sure whether the following new POI is outstanding enough for the GMP, but it certainly felt so when I travelled through on the DWE (the location is between waypoint 6 and 7) , so I'm finally submitting it now. Unfortunately I haven't made any good glamour shots except for one 360° panorama (but which may be unsuitable for the GMP). I linked an Imgur album, hopefully you'll find something suitable in there. Also, feel free to make any adjustments to the POI description below.


Name: The Three Kings

Game map search ref: Floawns XE-R D4-45

Description: Located more or less on a direct line from Sol to Sagittarius A*, the Three Kings are a group of three stately orange giant stars attended by a court of other giant stars. The three main systems are very close to each other (approximately 3 ly), while a rough survey of the vicinity at the time of discovery has turned up no less than 12 more giant star systems within a 100 ly radius. It is likely that upon closer scrutiny a few more giants can be found. Outstanding systems among the already discovered giants are: Floawns YE-R D4-346 (a double red giant star system), Floawns YE-R D4-127 and Floawns XE-R D4-59 (a red giant and an orange giant star system, respectively, each with an earth-like world in it), Floawns EG-Y F660 (a blue-white supergiant star system) and Floawns YE-R D4-385 (a carbon star system). The Three Kings should provide a welcome rest stop and sight-seeing diversion for any traveller passing through the region, although Commanders are advised that their vessels may have to detour a bit as the point of interest is located almost 1300 ly below the galactic plane. On the other hand, due to the location visibility of the galactic disc is excellent, and because the area of space contains a great deal of blue-white stars planetary skies are usually full of pretty bright lights. Finally, the main POI system contains 17 landable planets which should provide ample opportunities to stock up on FSD injection and other materials. A definitive survey of the available materials is not yet available, though.

Screenshot reference: http://imgur.com/a/smJJO

This is quite a find, and I'm interested to know how you managed to locate/noticed such a collection?

 

[CMDR MadRaptor]

Top 10 Geological Features update!

Hello,

So a while back we created a top 10 list of geological features to give to you guys, first of thank you very much. Love what you guys do and thank you for taking our sites and making them part of your project.

Why I'm here is that one of those sites had incomplete information. I'd like to update that now. This is such a beautiful site and finding it again was a nice reminders of why it is still my favorite find. Hope you guys enjoy it if you make it out there.

Site Name: Smokey Basin
System: IC 4604 SECTOR BA-A D57
Body: 1 A
Coords:
Lat: 48.24°
Long: 85.72°

Fumarole discoverd by CMDR MadRaptor

 

[herzbube]

This is quite a find, and I'm interested to know how you managed to locate/noticed such a collection?

Well, the basic method and, I guess, precondition for finding something like this is to search for giant stars in realistic mode in the galaxy map. In that mode the map shows giants and supergiants as larger spheres than normal stars, so it's possible to spot them while moving around in the galaxy map. Having said that, while it's certainly possible to find single giant/supergiant stars by that method, to actually find an increased number of them is, as far as I know, nothing but coincidence.

Things that I can think of that help with the basic method:

• Travelling in denser populated areas of the galaxy increases the chances of finding unusal things. Travelling 1k ly above or below the galactic plane adds spice in the form of Black Holes, Neutron Stars, Carbon Stars etc., but I'm not sure whether the probability for finding giant stars is any different in these regions.
• To help the visual scanning process, reduce distracting elements in the galaxy map. Notably, turn off the grid and switch to the first tab to keep things as dark as possible.
• At least initially, scan while you are zoomed out a bit so that you are able to quickly pan around larger areas of the map
• Familiarize yourself with how giant stars look like in the galaxy map. This trains your visual cortex and whatever pattern matching stuff there is in your brain to alert you while you pan around the galaxy map with your best Yul Brynner star
  
  Spoiler

  
• Play around with the number of stars shown in the galaxy map. For that you have to manipulate the StarInstanceCount setting in your GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml. For instance, I found a higher than normal count to be useful in less dense regions of the galaxy (e.g. 60000 instead of the default 4000 was fine for me while I was in the Sagittarius-Carina arm). Note that this also affects how many stars you see in the skybox.

But as I already said, the main thing is pure luck.

 

[Heavy Johnson]

Ah, I was hoping you had some better method than visual observation in realistic mode. I've done this, but it is so very tedious. Good info on the config file setting, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[dape]

Not sure if this is "good" enough...

POI Type: Stellar Feature
Name: Sigma Star (named after Walter "Wally" Schirras Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7)
Map: Dryo Brai AA-A H5

Description: Class A blue-white Supergiant orbited by one O and two B Stars. Found during the Mercury 7 Expedition.

 

[roboteconomist]

Ah, I was hoping you had some better method than visual observation in realistic mode. I've done this, but it is so very tedious. Good info on the config file setting, I'll keep that in mind.

I switch on the filter to the desired star class (A, G, etc) and then use the name search function to scan through the trigraphs that are known to have high instances of unique stars (e.g. AA-A, EG-Y, CY-L, etc.)

 

[roboteconomist]

New POI:

Name: Butterfly Nebula
POI type: Planetary Nebula
GalMap Ref: V651 Monoceros

Desc: "The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 2346) is a planetary nebula near the celestial equator of the constellation Monoceros that was first observed by William Hershel in 1795. The nebula's distinct 'double bubble' shape is the result of a very rapid, 30 day orbital period between a blue-white A5 star and the M5 red dwarf remnant of the star that shed its outer layers to form the nebular gas cloud. There is a significant amount of turbulence within the gas cloud that has periodically caused significant changes in the stars' apparent magnitude, such when the system swung between the 11th and 15th magnitude every two weeks for a period of 4 years at the end of the 20th Century.

There are no planetary bodies in the system."

 

[Heavy Johnson]

POI Update (better picture, description):

Name: KY Cygni
POI type: Stellar feature
GalMap Ref: KY Cygni

Desc: "KY Cygni is a red supergiant and one of the top 10 largest known stars by radius. Discovered in 1930, this star is not visible from Earth due to emitting a large amount of light in the infrared spectrum and the blocking effect of interstellar dust on the visible component. With a current radius 1062 times that of Sol, a ship moving at the speed of light will take more than 4.3 hours to make a complete pass around the star. Total luminosity is roughly 127,000 times greater than Sol. Attached photo is from 10,000 light-seconds (or 20 AU).

KY Cygni is expected to run out of helium to burn in less than two million years, rapidly progress through burning heavier elements, and end in a supernova."

 

[Corbin Moran]

Map updated to post #1519:


Updated:
- Omega Mining Operation
- Observation Post Epsilon
- Phroi Pruae Gamma -> Phroi Pruae Archer Alpha
- Attenborough's Watch
- NGC 6188 asteroid base -> Morgan's Rock
- New Beginning
- Darwin Research Facility



Added:
- Scrithworld
- Aisling's Diadem
- Phroi Pruae Archer Beta
- Phroi Pruae Archer Gamma
- Phroi Pruae Archer Delta
- Phroi Pruae Archer Epsilon
- Juenoi Archer Alpha
- Choomaae Archer Alpha
- Schee Pri Archer Alpha
- Schee Pri Archer Beta
- Schee Pri Archer Gamma
- Dumboea Archer Alpha
- Schee Flyuae Subway Alpha
- Kyloall Subway Alpha
- Equals Redeemer Nebula
- Geogaddi Nebula
- Birthday Boy Nebula
- Anzac Nebula
- Millicent Nebula
- Salomé's Epitaph
- R'lyeh Gateway Nebula
- NGC 6281
- Mammon Monitoring Facility
- The Great Rift
- NGC 6884 Nebula
- Blue Flash Nebula
- NGC 7027 Nebula
- IC 5117 Nebula
- NGC 7354 Nebula
- Peacock Nebula
- Retina Nebula
- RW Cephei
- V509 Cassiopeiae
- NGC 2452 Nebula
- NGC 2438 Nebula
- Azurite Nebula
- Nebulosa Portuguesa
- NGC 7048
- The Three Kings
- Triple Ripple
- Smokey Basin
- Sigma Star
- Butterfly Nebula




Not added:
- Nebulae in post #1465 <-- Postponed for now. Will get back to these
- Ghan's three brothers. <-- Not that rare.

New contributors:
- Captain Redeye
- roboteconomist
- Lhynn
- Woodenhorsė
- dape

 

[Corbin Moran]

Question: Is an ELW moon considered unique enough for a POI reference? This is the first I've seen in many, many, MANY jumps.

Id say that depends a bit on the context... Is there anything else that adds to the uniqueness of the system? Just post ahead and we will take a look at it

- - - Updated - - -

I understand I have a lot to explore still.

Just keep at it

 

[Kodemunkey]

NAME: SCREAKOU UK-0 D6-5800 A 6

LOCATION: SCREAKOU UK-0 D6-5800

POI TYPE: Tiny Gas Giant