Commander's Log/Jaques to Sagittarius A*

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Logs for my trip from Jaques Station in the Colonia star system to the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, Sagittarius A*. As with my trip to Jaques from the Bubble, no cargo, flying the Diamondback Explorer type vessel Luminary with a G1 FSD range upgrade on a 5A FSD (max theoretical jump range 33.80 LY, not including fuel weight) (build on Coriolis).

Incident Log

(It has been -1 days since I last did something stupid.)

  • Attempted to fuel scoop unscoopable T Tauri Star: 1
  • Accidental deployment of chaff: 1
  • Unsafe drop from Supercruise (total): 2
    • Controlled flight into star: 2
  • Heat damage due to close approach to star: 1

Day 1 (7 November 3302)

Well, after exploring around the neutron star field near Colonia for a while, it's time for me to begin the next leg of my journey. Today I departed Jaques Station in Colonia for Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Despite already flying most of the way there on my trip to Jaques, Jaques is still a good 11,367.20 LY from Sgr A*, so it's going to be quite a trip. Visiting Sgr A* is, of course, a bit of a rite of passage for all explorers, so I'm looking forward to finally making it out there myself.

Of course, the first step in the journey is, as with my trip to Jaques, plotting out waypoints. Looks like, by my calculations, Waypoint 1 will be a little system named Eoch Pruae MO-H d10-2679. I should note that I do not plan to seek out neutron stars or white dwarves for jump range boosting purposes, but if I happen to spot one on or near my route, I will likely take advantage of the opportunity.

Well, one jump out and I already did my first dumb thing, which was try to fuel scoop a T Tauri Star. Though previously forgivable, looks like our ships now warn us what the class of the main star of the jump destination system is, so I don't really have an excuse for not knowing that this star was a TTS. (The system in particular turned out to contain three T Tauri Stars.)

On just my second jump out from Jaques, I came across an Earth-like world, Eol Prou WY-R d4-2236 4. Previously discovered, but always a beautiful sight. Looked a really deep blue color, too, probably because of the Class A star it orbits.

In the Eoch Pruae DP-U c17-114, though, I found something I just couldn't resist - a landable planet not only obviously rather large (and thus hopefully high-gravity), but also rotating fast enough to be clearly seen on the system map. So, of course, I flew over to it to check it out. The planet, number 2 in the system, turned out to be an icy body with a rotational period of 0.7 days, which is fairly normal - the system map lied. I still landed, but yeah, nothing really spectacular to see.

Reaching Waypoint 1 after 33 jumps, I think this is where I'll go ahead and call my first day of my trip to Sgr A*, after plotting out Waypoint 2 of course. Looking forward to finally seeing the center of the galaxy!

  • Current location is Eoch Pruae MO-H d10-2679 (Waypoint 1)
  • Flying time: ~2 hours
  • 999.74 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,140.05 LY from Sol
  • 998.70 LY to Waypoint 2 (Kyloall KQ-X d1-4993)
  • 10,367.47 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • Space madness: 10%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered water world Eol Prou TR-G b26-19 6.
  • Discovered Earth-like world Eoch Pruae AC-L d8-3089 8
  • Discovered water world Eoch Pruae EP-U c17-52 A 1
  • Discovered Earth-like world Eoch Pruae PB-R c19-185 1
  • Reached Waypoint 1 (Eoch Pruae MO-H d10-2679)!

Incidents

  • Attempted to fuel scoop unscoopable T Tauri Star Eol Prou PC-K c9-11 A.

Photos

  • Final departure from Jaques Station

  • The stars are getting much brighter (and denser)

  • Landfall on Eoch Pruae DP-U c17-114 2

Day 2 (12 November 3302)

So far, the trip to Sagittarius A* has been rather interesting.

In just a handful of jumps today, I've already discovered four water worlds in two star systems: Eoch Pruae AO-N c21-122 1 and 2, and Eoch Pruae PZ-F d11-3982 AB 4 and C 11. It's funny just how many of these I'm finding - perhaps the area around Colonia isn't a bad place to start looking for alien life.

Perhaps the strangest discovery today was some jumps after Waypoint 2 - I discovered a system, Kyloarph UZ-O d6-1119, with four water worlds: planets A 4, A 5, A 6, and A 8, with the middle two being co-orbiting "brown water" worlds, which based off of DSS data gathered by CMDR stwalkerster I now suspect to really be liquid ammonia worlds (relatedly, I wish Diamondback Explorers had enough room to carry both a discovery scanner and a detailed surface scanner...).

With nine total water worlds discovered today, I think that's enough for now. Time to give my ship a rest.

  • Current location is Kyloarph UZ-O d6-1119
  • Flying time: ~3 hours
  • 2,739.69 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,486.67 LY from Sol
  • 256.37 LY to Waypoint 3 (Kyloarph ID-X c16-488)
  • 8,627.52 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • Space madness: 30%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered water world Eoch Pruae JP-B c28-208 B 8
  • Reached Waypoint 2 (Kyloall KQ-X d1-4993)!

Incidents

Surprisingly, I didn't do anything unusually stupid today!

Day 3 (23 November 3302)

Well, off to a not so auspicious start. First thing I do after climbing into the cockpit is mash the wrong button and deploy chaff needlessly. Could be worse strictly speaking, I guess, but still....

That changed after a jump, though - discovered an Earth-like world (planet 3) and a water world (planet 4) co-orbiting around a Class F star, Kyloarph UZ-O d6-6391. The ELW also had a landable moon (3 A), so I went around for a spin on that for a while to see what I could find. Found some useful materials, but it was the view of the planet that made the landing worth it.

Most exciting, though, was that today I discovered my first Herbig Ae/Be star, Kyloarph ON-T e3-7473. It was rather strange though; the star seems far too red to be an AeBe star (it looked to be at least spectral class K), and the system contained seven other stars, all scanned as T Tauri Stars, but visually looking like Class T or Y brown dwarves. I'm really not quite sure what to make of this. Maybe my scanners have gone mad?

The next system over, Kyloarph CX-Y c15-236, was also rather interesting. Planet 5 was a water world, but more notably, planet 8 was an ammonia world with carbon-ammonia-based life, and with surprisingly Earth-like stats and orbital parameters too.

Ending my flight today in orbit around a beautiful blue water world, Kyloarph OJ-V c17-545 A 2. All in all, not a bad day today, though I didn't make nearly as much progress as I had hoped I would. Too much faffing about I suppose.

  • Current location is Kyloarph OJ-V c17-545
  • Flying time: ~2.5 hours
  • 3,089.15 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,574.22 LY from Sol
  • 906.75 LY to Waypoint 4 (Kyloaln VB-B d14-2208)
  • 8,278.09 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • Space madness: 30%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered water world Kyloarph XQ-A c15-270 A 6
  • Reached Waypoint 3 (Kyloarph ID-X c16-488)!

Incidents

  • Accidental chaff deployment

Photos

  • Earth(-like-world)-rise

  • This star looks far too red to be a Herbig Ae/Be...

  • ...And these do not look like T Tauri stars at all.

Day 4 (11 December 3302)

So, it's been a while since I've been able to fly. Turns out, regularly scheduled ship maintenance is rather important, and failing to keep up on that means, eventually, you'll have to do it yourself. Thank goodness these ships come with maintenance manuals loaded into the computers. Lessons learned, and I'm back on my way to the center of the galaxy.

More water planets discovered, of course. There's really been no shortage of those on this trip. First up is Kyloarph UP-T c18-523 1, which was interesting for the number of visible storms and for having a bit of an orange glow to the otherwise blue surface, probably because the planet is orbiting close to a Class K yellow-orange star.

A few jumps later, I was welcomed back to the fun of exploring by a cheeky system of a binary pair of Class A blue-white stars (Kyloarph OD-I d10-3020 A and B) with a nearby companion Class K yellow-orange star (C). Fortunately, no damage taken and no drop from supercruise, just a minor heart attack.

Another notable discovery was the blue water world Kyloarph NT-M c22-1139 C 1 - not notable for being a water world, but for being the only planet in a system with four stars. Rather improbable, but it is indeed a big galaxy.

Waypoint 4 seems like a good place to pause my journey for now. My hands are getting tired from logging all these bloody water worlds....

  • Current location is Kyloaln VB-B d14-2208 (Waypoint 4)
  • Flying time: ~2 hours
  • 3,995.84 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,811.44 LY from Sol
  • 999.00 LY to Waypoint 5 (Scheau Flyi MM-I c11-836)
  • 7,371.37 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered blue water world Kyloarph IN-O c21-372 C 1
  • Discovered gas giant with ammonia-based life Kyloarph IN-O c21-372 C 2
  • Discovered blue water world Kyloarph ZF-J c24-795 B 2
  • Discovered blue water world Kyloarph ZP-E d12-905 6
  • Discovered blue water world Kyloaln KP-E d12-7869 AB 1
  • Discovered brown water world Kyloaln PV-C d13-3408 B 4
  • Reached Waypoint 4 (Kyloaln VB-B d14-2208)!

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

  • Water world Kyloarph UP-T c18-523 1

  • Kyloarph UP-T c18-523 system, AKA, "y u do dis"

  • Lots of stars

  • Kyloaln IC-V f2-3097, a class B0VZ blue-white main sequence star (and a very blue one at that)

Day 5 (12 December 3302)

The space madness is real.

Today started out pretty boring. Sure, discovered a water world here and there, but I've been discovering those left and right on my way out to Sagittarius A*. Hell, I landed on Scheau Flyi LC-R c6-182 A 3 A, a 0.21G rocky moon, and did a bit of driving with the SRV just to break up the monotony. Didn't really find anything except some large boulders to crash my SRV into. At least my ship, when recalled, landed decently close to me.

Things did turn interesting a bit later, though, with the discovery of another one of those rare terrestrial ammonia worlds, Scheau Flyi ON-B b17-11 6. Tidally locked only about 80 light-seconds away from the parent star, so not a good candidate for life, but at least it's an interesting discovery and something I haven't seen in a while. I guess, though, I shouldn't expect to see something interesting or unusual every day, because then it wouldn't be very interesting or unusual would it? (See: water worlds.)

  • Current location is Schee Flyi KJ-P d6-7840
  • Flying time: ~2 hours
  • 5,214.07 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 23,190.46 LY from Sol
  • 780.64 LY to Waypoint 6 (Schee Flyi XX-L c23-4496)
  • 6,153.14 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • Space madness: 85%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered blue water world Kyloaln To-A c29-1741 1
  • Discovered blue water world Scheau Flyi LC-R c6-1482 A 2
  • Discovered blue water world Scheau Flyi LC-R c6-1482 A 3
  • Discovered blue water world Scheau Flyi AA-M c9-3113 1
  • Reached Waypoint 5 (Scheau Flyi MM-I c11-836)!

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

  • Here's an odd star pairing you don't see every day

  • Terrestrial ammonia world Scheau Flyi ON-B b17-11 6

Day 6 (30 December 3302)

Well, right out of the gate today, there are apparently more water worlds to be discovered. We lead with Schee Flyi ZO-B c15-5149 planets B 2 and B 3, both nice blue water worlds.

It's actually quite interesting I think just how many water worlds I've been discovering on my way to the galactic core. Surely the massive concentration of water worlds here compared to anywhere else is not a coincidence. Mathematically, the number of star systems in a given volume of space increases (i.e., the star density increases) the closer one gets to the galactic core, so it would follow that there would be more water worlds, but I'm also finding water worlds seemingly with every jump, up until now at least. The universe does tend to be mysterious like that, though.

A few systems over, in Schee Flyi FE-K b40-26, I came across another candidate Thargoid homeworld terrestrial ammonia world, planet B 6. This one also had clearly visible clouds and weather systems, and scanners indicate carbon-based life of some kind, so who knows. I was tempted to fly down there to get some ammonia with which to clean my canopy, but alas.

So, CMDR stwalkerster has been accompanying me on this trip in a way; we've both decided to head towards Sagittarius A* after leaving Colonia, though we aren't flying together per se, nor have we been flying at the same time, and we've been taking turns being ahead of the other. He's decided to add two points of interests to his route, and I'm going to follow suit: The Six Rings at Myriesly RY-S e3-5414, and the Great Annihilator. Likewise, I will be adding those to my route as well, visiting The Six Rings on my way to Sgr A* and visiting the Great Annihilator on my way back to The Bubble. Before the Six Rings, though, I'm also going to add a waypoint of my own which I discovered quite randomly while just scrolling through the galaxy map, Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940. The system contains a neutron star, a black hole, and a class DABO VII white dwarf. Should be an interesting sight, and I can use the neutron star for a little jump boost. I'm now recomputing my route so that I will be jumping in the direction of Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 instead of Sagittarius A*, and this is reflected in my choice for Waypoint 7, Hypou Aoscs HZ-N c20-750. Notably, Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 is completely unexplored as far as I can tell, as none of the mapping databases have definite coordinates for it - thus, I have estimated its coordinates as -2260, 1257, 22550 based off the grid in the galaxy map.

But it looks like Waypoint 6 has one more surprise in store for me before I set off - another terrestrial ammonia world, Schee Flyi XX-L x23-4496 A 2. Another amazing discovery, yet all I can think about is how much canopy cleaning solution I could make down there...

Anyway, off I go to Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940! ...And I promptly fly into a star on my second jump. Good job me. Thank goodness the flight computers on these ships will (try) to stop you before you actually really do fly into the star, even if it does mean dropping the ship very suddenly and unsafely from supercruise.

A couple jumps later, and my FSD was kind enough to drop me between another cheeky binary pair of stars, but fortunately neither was close enough to cause any heat damage. It also turns out that the system, Schee Flyi UM-M c23-2767, is actually home to another terrestrial ammonia world, but of course planet D 3 was a good 5.6 kLs from the drop-in point. Notably, this ammonia world had distinct ice caps.

And that's it for today. Decided to finish off my day by landing in the shade of a mountain on metal-rich world Schee Flyi CM-J d10-5473 A 1, though that turned out to be more difficult than expected for difficulty of finding a good, flat parking spot. But I'm set down, and ready to continue on my way after some rest - 14 jumps to go until Waypoint 7!

  • Current location is Schee Flyi CM-J d10-5473
  • Flying time: ~3.5 hours
  • 6,367.39 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 23,288.83 LY from Sol
  • 433.68 LY to Waypoint 7 (Hypou Aoscs HZ-N c20-750)
  • 2,271.99 LY to Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940
  • 3,813.63 LY to The Six Rings (Myriesly RY-S e3-5414)
  • 5,034.74 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • 4,398.74 LY to the Great Annihilator

(Note: All distances above are straight-line.)

  • Space madness: 50%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered blue water world Schee Flyi CU-S c19-3547 2
  • Discovered blue water world Schee Flyi CU-S c19-3547 3, with notably very large ice caps
  • Arrived at Waypoint 6 (Schee Flyi XX-L c23-4496)!

Incidents

  • Controlled flight into star (CFIS) Schee Flyi JY-G d11-8059 - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity down to 98%, AFMU capacity down to 3754/4000 after repairs of critical systems.

Photos

  • Blue water world Schee Flyi CU-S c19-3547 3

  • Terrestrial ammonia world Schee Flyi FE-K b40-26 B 6

  • Terrestrial ammonia world Schee Flyi XX-L x23-4496 A 2

  • Cheeky binary star pair in Schee Flyi UM-M c23-2767

  • Terrestrial ammonia world Schee Flyi UM-M c23-2767 D 3

  • Another binary pair, in Schee Flyi PQ-O c22-7437

Day 7 (31 December 3302)

I decided to do some driving around on Schee Flyi CM-J d10-5473 A 1, mostly for fun (space can get a little samey after a while) and for the offchance that I'll find some useful materials. Found some cadmium and vanadium, which are useful, but I was honestly hoping to find some polonium so I could make some top-grade jumponium.

Back in space, and of course the first meaningful thing I discover is... a blue water world! Specifically, Schee Flyi JE-R c21-5494 2. Appears to have no land masses at all, but I do see several active weather systems. One jump later, another water world, this one a rage-inducing 212 kLs away from the main star. Oh the things we do for money.... This one, Schee Flyi HJ-R c21-1794 B 1, turned out to be a brown water world this time.

A few jumps later, I found an Earth-Like World, which is always an amazing discover in itself. But something was strange about this one. Well, the planet was Schee Flyi DM-J d10-4587 A 6, and I dropped out of supercruise in orbit to take some photos... when I heard something. It sounded like voices. More over, it sounds like communications chatter - I can hear indistinguishable speech of some kind, combined with occasional tones that, based on how they occur around the speech, sound like begin- and end-transmission tones. Though I'm not equipped with a detailed surface scanner, what I do have confirms that there is life on the planet (quoting the system scan, "outdoor world with a human-breathable atmosphere and indigenous life"). It can't be humans on the planet, because this world isn't charted or listed as discovered. I even flew 437 Ls directly away from the planet back towards the main star to confirm that the transmissions I heard were not coming from anywhere but the planet, and indeed, at that distance, nothing heard but the whine of radio static. Turned around, came back, and this time supercruised as close as I could get to the planet before my flight computer forced the ship to drop out, and the unintelligible radio chatter - but definitely radio chatter - returned. I was forced to conclude that I had not only discovered an Earth-like world, but one that is inhabited by sentient beings who have advanced at least to a level of technology to possess radio.

Assuming that this isn't the space madness finally setting in, I decided that the next prudent thing to do would be to look for any signs of spaceflight, such as satellites, so I circled the planet for a while in supercruise looking for any signal sources. Nothing found, though, and I noticed that there didn't appear to be any lights on the surface of the dark side, which one would expect from a civilization that had discovered radio. Nor were there any visible cities or other large structures on the daylit side of the planet. This leaves me with absolutely no explanation for the radio transmissions that I'm picking up, which again seem like they must be coming from the planet below. Maybe I really have finally gone space mad. In any case, I took a one-minute recording of the audio. The transmission tones can be heard starting at around 48 seconds into the recording.

Anyway, I don't want to dwell on my potential space madness for long, so moving on. Next jump and we're back to the old fare of blue water worlds, Schee Flyi JJ-R c21-2368 3 and 4. Fortunately, no radio transmissions heard emanating from these worlds after dropping out of supercruise.

Another interesting discovery I made after a couple jumps is Hypou Aoscs OL-L c21-203 C 1, a Class IV gas giant with very regular banding but an oddly oblong shape orbiting very close to its parent start, a Class L brown-dwarf. Alas, I couldn't get a very good photo of the planet because I needed to balance getting a good shot with not frying myself in its parent star.

My final interesting discovery this flight was a couple jumps after Waypoint 7, in the Hypou Aoscs CD-Q c19-7659 system. The system contained both a blue water world, planet 1, and an ammonia world, planet 3.

  • Current location is Hypou Aoscs NE-V c17-822
  • Flying time: ~3 hours
  • 7,142.03 LY from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,978.72 LY from Sol
  • 340.59 LY to Waypoint 8 (Hypou Aoscs CR-Z c15-3467)
  • 1,179.38 LY to Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940
  • 4,374 LY to The Six Rings (Myriesly RY-S e3-5414) via Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 (estimated)
  • 5,619 LY to Sagittarius A* via Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 and The Six Rings (estimated)
  • 8,540 LY to the Great Annihilator via Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940, Six Rings, and Sgr A* (estimated)
  • Space madness: 100%?

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered brown water world Hypou Aoscs IU-N c20-2798 A 1
  • Arrived at Waypoint 7 (Hypou Aoscs HZ-N c20-750)!

Incidents

Nothing to report. Besides space madness.

Photos

  • Planetary data for Schee Flyi DM-J d10-4587 A 6

  • View of Schee Flyi DM-J d10-4587 A 6 from orbit

  • Dark side and sunrise while circling Schee Flyi DM-J d10-4587 A 6

  • Hypou Aoscs OL-L c21-203 C 1 up-close

  • Hypou Aoscs OL-L c21-203 C 1 from the system map (note the oblong shape)

Day 8 (1 January 3303)

I made it all the way to Waypoint 8, and didn't discover a single water world! Yay!

Alas, that minor victory ended up being undone by nearly flying myself into a star. Oops. Should probably pay more attention to my throttle when doing this whole fuel scooping thing. And, of course, this system would contain a water world, just to add insult to injury....

Actually, though, that blue water world, Hypou Aoscs XE-O d7-10485 A 6, turned out to be quite beautiful as it was surrounded by a thin ring system, all against the backdrop of the galactic disk meeting black space. I'm actually pretty happy that I stopped by this one. I decided to actually visit the rings too, just to see what they were like and to keep my obstacle flying skills sharp(-ish). Reminded me of bounty hunting at resource extraction sites back home, but the views are certainly a lot better here. I'm sure a good miner would make a killing out here too.

A little while later, I came across an unexpected neutron star. Wasn't aiming for it at all, it just happened to lie on my route. Hypuae Aoscs CI-Q d6-886. As always, they're quite a sight, and I decided to take advantage of it to take a few jumps off my journey. Turns out, after calculating the destination of my neutron-boosted jump, there is another neutron star in the target vicinity - so I decided that I might as well ride neutrons the rest of the way to Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940. My next neutron star target was Hypuae Aoscs BN-Q d6-2320, distance 124.95 LY. Boosting off that neutron star allowed me to cover the final jump to Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940, at a distance of 122.69 LY.

Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 actually turned out to be a bit more crowded than I expected - it had several planets, and in addition to black hole, the neutron star, and the white dwarf, contained two Class Y brown dwarves. It seems odd that planets would survive the events that lead to the creation of black holes and neutron stars (i.e., supernovae), but hey. I was able to get 24.0 km away from the black hole before my ship's computer disconnected the fly-by-wire and said "Nope!", even though my math puts the event horizon radius of a 2.6133 solar mass black hole at 7,718 meters. Fair enough though, I guess - it was still certainly close enough that I could see gravitational lensing outside my canopy in every direction. I guess I should also take a moment to appreciate that the field emitted by the Frame Shift Drive protects me (and the ship) from experiencing extreme time dilation this close to the black hole.

Scanning everything ended up taking a while because of distances within the system; the black hole was the primary star (A). The white dwarf (class DAB), star B, was only 198 Ls away from the black hole (which I got 3.34 Ls away from, but that's as close as I wanted to fly). The real fun was getting to the neutron star, star C, which was 238,352 Ls from the white dwarf.

The trip over to the neutron star was actually quite beautiful, though. I'm about a thousand light years above the galactic disk, and seeing it and black space meet so starkly in front of me is an amazing sight. The neutron star itself had a particularly striking emission cone, which of course I flew through for one last jump boost to get me started on my way to The Six Rings. Visiting this system was definitely, definitely worth it, and I'm very happy to have discovered it quite by chance.

After acquiring my jump boost, but before jumping out of the system, I decided to fly around the black hole a little bit to try to see the gravitational lensing effect from this distance against the background of the galactic disk. Well, I say a little bit; I ended up flying 178,826 Ls away from the neutron star, but indeed at a distance of 237,626 Ls, you can see the gravitational lensing of the black hole, though it's a bit difficult to make out unless you're moving.

With that jump boost, it's now time for me to turn towards The Six Rings at Myriesly RY-S e3-5414. Interestingly enough, there happens to be a perfectly-placed neutron star in that direction at a distance of 128.40 LY - Hypuae Aoscs HT-O d7-4404, and it even has a class M star, according to the galaxy map, from which I can refuel. Yay! Grabbed another jump boost, flew over to grab some fuel, then plotted my next long-jump. Found a nice little neutron star, Hypuae Aoscs LZ-M d8-2854, with companion Class-M stars, at a distance of 116.55 LY.

At this point, though, it's starting to feel like it's actually slower for me to do neutron star jump boosts, since my ship's computer is apparently incapable of calculating boosted jump destinations for me, requiring me to crunch the numbers manually. So it's back to normal non-boosted routing I go. Waypoint 9 is set as Zunou OD-O c8-2006. (Maybe this should really be waypoint 10, since Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 is technically my ninth waypoint, but whatever.)

After a couple jumps, I discovered a nice blue water world, Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-4992 8, with really large ice caps. This seems like a fitting way to call it for now. Just one last thing to handle before powering down for some rest, which is to repair my FSD after all that neutron star boosting, bringing my AFMU reserves down to 3335/4000.

Not too bad for my first flight of the new year!

  • Current location is Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-4992
  • Flying time: ~4 hours
  • 8,370.18 LY (estimated) flown from starting point (Colonia)
  • 22,943.42 LY (straight-line distance) from Sol
  • 938.30 LY to Waypoint 9 (Zunou OD-O c8-2006)
  • 2,891.09 LY to The Six Rings (Myriesly RY-S e3-5414)
  • 4,135.66 LY to Sagittarius A* via The Six Rings (estimated)
  • 7,057.14 LY to the Great Annihilator via The Six Rings and Sgr A* (estimated)
  • Space madness: 75%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Arrived at Waypoint 8 (Hypou Aoscs CR-Z c15-3467)!
  • Did a bunch of neutron star hopping even though it didn't really save any time (see above)

Incidents

  • Controlled flight into star (CFIS) Hypou Aoscs XE-O d7-10485 A - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity (somehow) stable at 98%, AFMU capacity down to 3420/4000 after repairs of critical systems.

Photos

  • Water world Hypou Aoscs XE-O d7-10485 A 6 and ring system

  • Hypou Aoscs XE-O d7-10485 A 6 ring system up-close

  • Neutron star Hypuae Aoscs CI-Q d6-886

  • Neutron star Hypuae Aoscs BN-Q d6-2320

  • Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 system overview

  • White dwarf Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 B seen from Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 A (the black hole)

  • As close as I can get to black hole Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 A; note the extreme gravitational lensing

  • Sitting in front of Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 A (8K screenshot)

  • Sitting in front of Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 A (8K screenshot)

  • White dwarf Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 B up-close

  • Neutron star Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 C from a distance (at very center; the white glow around the star is due to gravitational lensing)

  • Neutron star Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 C up-close

  • Black hole Egnaiv OS-U e2-3940 A from a distance (note the gravitational lensing)

  • Water world Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-4992 8

Day 9 (2 January 3303)

The water worlds have returned to haunt me. Almost quite literally ran into the rings of blue water world Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-3785 7 (they were almost perfectly aligned with my approach path). Also in the same system planet 9 turned out to be an ammonia world, with - interestingly enough - ice rings. It was actually quite beautiful.

Next jump led to the discovery of a neutron star, Hypuae Aoscs WG-J d10-2755 A. Decided against using the star to boost my FSD because of the extra time cost of calculating the boosted jump.

Two jumps later, came across a Class-DC white dwarf star, Hypuae Aoscs WG-J d10-2216 A, which had a couple companion Class-M main sequence stars to keep it company. This was immediately followed by the neutron star Hypuae Aoscs AN-H d11-6246 A, which had a blue water world orbiting it, planet A 2. Now there's something you definitely don't see every day.

After that, I hit a string of white dwarf stars in a row, starting with Hypuae Aoscs HO-F d12-4954 (class-DA), then Hypuae Aoscs HO-F d12-2999 A (also class-DA), then Hypuae Aoscs LU-D d13-3054 A (class-DC this time), then a neutron star out of nowhere, Hypuae Aoscs LU-D d13-4042 A. I must have stumbled into a neutron star field by accident. Not going to complain since the discovery data from these is worth a lot more.

Fairly uneventful trip for the rest of the way to the Six Rings. The Six Rings system, Myriesly RY-S e3-5414, was quite beautiful. One really cool thing I noticed is that one of the ringed T Tauris, Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 15, is orbiting the parent star fast enough that just dropping out of supercruise behind it in a sunlit area on the rings near the terminator is enough that within minutes, you can see the main star "set" behind the T Tauri star. Really quite an amazing place.

After plotting my next waypoint for the turn towards Sagittarius A* (Myriesly WO-Z d13-1257), I decided that this is probably as good a place as any to call it for now. I've set down on planet 3 in the Six Rings system, which is notable for having rings that face the parent star, making for quite a show. Turns out the planet, a high metal content world, has 3.82Gs of gravity, which made the landing a little hard on my shields, but otherwise I made it down in one piece and I'm ready to call it a night.

  • Current location is The Six Rings (Myriesly RY-S e3-5414)
  • Flying time: ~5.75 hours
  • 11,260.97 LY (estimated) flown from starting point (Colonia)
  • 25,301.28 LY (straight-line distance) from Sol
  • 998.62 LY to Waypoint 11 (Myriesly WO-Z d13-1257)
  • 1,244.57 LY to Sagittarius A*
  • 4,166.05 LY to the Great Annihilator via Sgr A* (estimated)
  • Space madness: 75%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered blue water world Hypuae Aoscs SN-S c20-498 A 6
  • Discovered blue water world Hypuae Aoscs SN-S c20-498 A 8
  • Discovered blue water world Zunou RI-A d1-80 3
  • Reached Waypoint 9 (Zunou OD-O c8-2006)!
  • Discovered terrestrial ammonia world Zunou ZK-K c10-1562 2
  • Discovered blue water world Zunou GM-I c11-2223 A 5
  • Discovered blue water world Zunou RJ-M c22-3418 AB 2
  • Reached Waypoint 10 (Zunou SV-C b56-6)!
  • Discovered blue water world Zunou SV-C b56-6 A 6
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly KY-Q c5-6398 A 3
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly KY-Q c5-6398 B 1
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly AH-C c13-5760 B 2

Incidents

Nothing to report!

Photos

  • Water world Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-3785 7

  • Ammonia world with ice rings Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-3785 9

  • Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-3785 9 rings close-up

  • Ship idling in the ice rings of Hypuae Aoscs SA-L d9-3785 9 (8K screenshot)

  • White dwarf star Hypuae Aoscs WG-J d10-2216 A

  • White dwarf star Hypuae Aoscs HO-F d12-4954

  • White dwarf star Hypuae Aoscs HO-F d12-2999 A and Class-M companion (8K screenshot)

  • White dwarf star Hypuae Aoscs LU-D d13-3054 A

  • Water world Zunou RI-A d1-80 3

  • Overview of the Six Rings system (Myriesly RY-S e3-5414)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 2

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 3

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 9 (one of the Six Rings stars)

  • In the rings of Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 9

  • In the rings of Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 9 (8K screenshot)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 11 (one of the Six Rings stars, 8K screenshot)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 13 (one of the Six Rings stars, 8K screenshot)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 15 (one of the Six Rings stars)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 14 (one of the Six Rings stars)

  • Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 16 (one of the Six Rings stars)

  • Every star in Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 scanned!

  • Inspection of my ship after setting down on Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 3; paint job is a little worse for wear

  • Set down on Myriesly RY-S e3-5414 3 (8K screenshot)

Day 10 (5 January 3303)

Off I go to visit the center of the galaxy! Well, it's not like I don't know what's there; hell, I've even seen pictures of it, but it's still a goal nonetheless, and a rite of passage of every good explorer.

As expected, first jump after The Six Rings resulted in a system with three blue water worlds all together, Myriesly WV-U c16-331 A 3, A 4, and A 5. What made these particularly noteworthy was that the first two were co-orbiting, and apparently lacked atmosphere. (Apparently because, without a detailed surface scanner, I don't have any actual data on that, just what I can literally see out my canopy.)

Aside from discovering a quite large number of water worlds along the way, the trip the rest of the way to the galactic center was pretty uneventful. Jumping into Sagittarius A* was quite an experience though; the moment of coming out of witch-space and seeing the massive gravitational lensing of the black hole is truly a sight to behold. At a distance of 60 Ls, the effect caused by the lensing is larger than any other black hole I've seen, though that's really only to be expected.

One thing that caught me off-guard was the presence of tourist ships and even a little tourist information beacon. I guess this is a pretty popular destination for travelers with the time to make it all the way out here. Who wouldn't want to see the center of the galaxy?

After a few minutes at the tourist beacon, I decided to supercruise towards Sagittarius A* to see how close I could get, and promptly chickened out when my ship's heat levels spiked above 90%. Turning back around to the beacon, I dropped out of supercruise to discover... a debris field? It wasn't there when I left.... I couldn't determine what kind of ship it was from either, and while I was poking through the wreckage, someone (but not a fellow CMDR) showed up in a Viper MkIV and scanned me. Not sure what his intentions were, but if I were to guess, I would say he was probably a pirate type. Reminds me of a saying, "maybe the stars are better off without us".... Nonetheless, it's nice finally being able to say that I've visited Sagittarius A*.

After hanging around the tourist beacon for a while, I decided to go check out Source 2, the Class-B main-sequence star about 31 kLs from Sagittarius A*. Flying around Sagittarius A* in supercruise was an interesting experience as I flew "through" the extreme gravitational lensing at some fraction of the speed of light, causing a massive distortion of perspective out the canopy. Source 2 is really quite luminous, and a beautiful violet color. An appropriately beautiful star for the center of the galaxy.

I figure this is a good place to call my flight for now, having reached the "end" of this particular journey. Next flight will be to begin my long trip back home, most likely back to Halai where my old Viper MkIV is stored, via The Great Annihilator. Since my plan when I get back home to The Bubble is to try the passenger carrying business, who knows - maybe I'll be back out here sooner than I expect!

  • Current location is Sagittarius A*
  • Flying time: ~2.5 hours
  • 12,505.54 LY (estimated) flown from starting point (Colonia)
  • 25,899.99 LY (straight-line distance) from Sol
  • 2,921.48 LY to The Great Annihilator
  • 25,890.28 LY to Halai via The Great Anihilator (estimated)
  • Space madness: 75%

Other Notable Happenings

  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly HI-R c18-2674 5
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly HI-R c18-2674 6
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly HI-R c18-2674 7
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly UP-N c20-5543 C 8
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly FC-K c22-2961 A 5
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly FC-K c22-2961 A 7
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly JC-B c27-216 A 1
  • Discovered blue water world Myriesly KC-B c27-6446 1
  • Arrived at Waypoint 11 (Myriesly WO-Z d13-1257)!

Incidents

  • Took some heat damage to modules due to close approach to star while fuel scooping at Myriesly BW-L c21-5845 A; no drop from supercruise. 3240/4000 AFMU remaining.

Photos

  • Water world Myriesly JC-B c27-216 A 1

  • Preparing to jump to Sagittarius A* - note the bright spot presumably caused by gravitational lensing

  • Arrival at Sagittarius A*

  • "The Centre" tourist beacon (8K screenshot)

  • Wow, these cruise ships are chatty. Maybe technical malfunctions are also causing them to broadcast their passenger announcements to everyone?

  • Sagittarius A* system information

  • Debris field? How'd this happen in the five minutes I was gone?

  • Debris field contents. Rip passenger ship?

  • Well, at nearly 26 kLY from Mars, must be an awfully expensive taxi ride....

  • Obligatory shot of ship in front of Sagittarius A* (8K screenshot)

  • On my way to Source 2

  • Fuel scooping from the center of the galaxy (8K screenshot)

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