Exploring the Orio-Perseian Conflux
Another 10kly and now some additional finds:
The Scroll of Thoth
POI type: Planetary Nebula (Supernova Remnant)
System ref.: Vegnae YE-R e4-121
Description: Thoth was the god of knowledge in Ancient Egypt and it was said that he once had a scroll inscribed with ancient knowledge and with powerful spells. On one account the scroll was stolen by his enemy Seth and cast high into the heavens where it stuck to a star.
In this heaven, however, the Scrolls of Thoth is a roughly cone-shaped supernova remnant, testimony to a gigantic explosion some 280 million years ago. It left a black hole in its core which is still in the process of accreting matter from two not so distant brown dwarfs. What mechanics gave this nebula its distinct shape is unclear but it is speculated that the brown dwarves' orbits may have played a part in it.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
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Jötunheimr
POI type: Stellar Feature
System ref.: Plae Aob AA-A h171
Description: Jötunheimr in Norse legends was the home of the giants, the primordial race of world shapers before even the gods came into being. Fittingly, this star system is a place of gigantic proportions. No less then four O-type stars reside here, one of them being a blue giant with 71.6 solar masses and a staggering 216 solar radii. These stars bear the names of the most prominent heroes/villains of the giantkin: Ymir, Hrungnir, Mimir and Surtur.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
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The Lapislazuli Nebula
POI type: Planetary Nebula (Supernova Remnant)
System ref.: Greethia SS-U e2-48
Description: This little gem is an hourglass-shaped nebula that formed out of a supernova explosion some 250 million years ago. The explosion left a neutron star in its core that has been illuminating the nebula ever since.
The nebula was named mainly after the bright blue mineral but also as tribute to a joke in the explorers' community that „every second feature in the galaxy is named 'blue something.'“
Credits for its first discovery go to CMDR Kapter
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
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The Leviathan Nebula
POI type: Nebula
System ref.: Segnao LN-Q d6-2281
Description: The Leviathan Nebula is a distorted emission nebula some 100x100x200ly in size. Its belly holds a massive population of T Tauri protostars with quite a few Herbig-Haro's among them. Its distorted shape is the result of the many massive young stars that formed out of its dust and gas some few million years ago. There are also many stellar corpses that bear witness to some gigantic catastrophes in the distant past.
The nebula is part of a much greater complex, the Segnao Starburst. In fact, it is quite likely that the Leviathan is just the remnant of a much bigger molecular cloud complex which must have collapsed in a chain of some rather dramatic events, thus producing a rate of star birth far higher than in other parts.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
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The Veil of Inanna
POI type: Nebula
System ref.: Vegneia ZO-I d9-234
Description: Inanna was among the chief godesses of the Sumerian pantheon. The Babylonians knew her as Ishtar. She had seven holy vestments that on one occasion were stripped from her as she was about to visit her sister Ereshkigal in the underworld*. One of these vestments was a thin veil of many colours which she often used to „throw before the stars“.
The Veil of Inanna is a predominantly blue and red emission nebula, which is brightly illuminated by many young, massive stars in its vicinity. Parts of the nebula are intersected by a thick and dense layer of dust, which makes the nebula's appearance even more beautiful. The nebula is also part of a much greater complex, the nearby Segnao Starburst. It is an area of extremly heavy star formation and it is thought that the Veil had its own share in the formation of the nearby superclusters.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
* Inanna being stripped of her seven vestments was the source of the later 'dance of the seven veils' attributed to Salome in Oriental culture.
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The Segnao Starburst
POI type: (Super)Cluster, Stellar Nursery
System ref.: Segnao DL-Y g1, Segnao AW-K d9-126, Segnao IH-V f2-1382, Vegneia BF-R e4-735
Description: The Segnao Starburst covers an area of some 1,000 x 2,000 x 500ly and is only in its exploration infancy. The region seems to have a much higher rate of star birth than other areas, even compared to its relative vicinity to the galactic bulge and its core density. It is located between three prominent nebulae (Leviathan, Veil of Inanna, Flaming Torch) and is also dotted by supernova remnants and many black holes and neutron stars. The area has brought forth at least three distinct superclusters of primarily massive young stars of O and B types as well as numerous T Tauri Associations and quite a few 'pockets' with a high number of neutron stars, black holes and the occasional Wolf-Rayet star. It is an explorer's heaven.
As concerns its origins it is thought that the Segnao Starburst lies at a 'hotspot' (the Orio-Perseian Conflux) of at least two of the galaxy's density waves that eventually evolve into the Orion-Cygnus and the Perseus spiral arm. The region thus should have an overabundancy of mass, held in numerous gigantic molecular clouds. The starburst thus may have resulted from a series of supernovae jets blasting through the area that lead to a massive collapse of the Segnao
giant molecular cloud. The area holds enough stellar corpses, some of which are in excess of 50+ solar masses, that would support this theory. The collapse of the cloud complex would have incited star formation at various spots at approximately the same time. The sheer output of young stars in this area is just staggering.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
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The Flaming Torch Nebula
POI type: Nebula
System ref.: Phleedgoe DL-Y g805
Description: The Flaming Torch is the 'southern' tip of the Segnao Starburst and home to a heavy O-type star population. The nebula itself holds no stellar corpses so maybe the nebula was sufficently compressed by a nearby supernova blast to initiate star formation. There are some black holes and neutron stars near enough to have incited this and the 'bottom' of the nebula seems to still undergo star formation as it is heavily clouded in thick layers of dust and gas.
Please see attached screenshot(s) for reference:
Fly safe CMDRs!
