"In the deep galactic northeast, far along the Sagittarius-Carina Arm and into the region the Old Explorers call the Silentium, I came upon an icy moon which bore a curious signal…"
The Far Leys is a place in which the ordinary rules of the galaxy cannot be relied upon, where people go specifically for revelation, deeper truth, or simply to go mad - where impossible things begin to look as if they just might come to pass. Underlying these regions - the Trojan Belt, the Veils, the Sagittarius-Carina Arm, and Mare Somnia - is a parallel, secret structure, a framework for reality which one can only start to be able to discern when they have been there a while, paying close attention. Many manage to return from this place... others do not.
You are invited to journey with us, the Independent Explorers Association, into these regions - to witness strange and beautiful things discovered by the explorers who came before, to gravitate toward other like-minded spacefarers and share ideas, activities and stories, and to delve deep into the Far Leys on your own, knowing not what you might find on its furthest shore.
All communication before and during the expedition is transmitted through the IEA Discord server. Join here in order to sign up on our internal roster for the expedition, join our in-game private group, learn when events are occurring and take part in them, and share your screenshots and stories. We look forward to seeing you on the distant shore.
Located only 174 light years from the center of the bubble, Jackson’s Lighthouse is the closest primary neutron star to Sol. Given the distances we will be traveling, it seems fit to begin our journey directly at one of the on-ramps to the Neutron Highway.
A high mass moon system around a helium-rich gas giant. Within it is a terraformable HMC world, a ringed terraformable water world, and 3 gas ringed gas giants – one with an axial tilt of a whopping 90.5°. These bodies orbit closely to one another, and flying around them will reward you with exotic views of their configuration.
This system contains a black hole as its primary star, but the C star is a white dwarf with a very eccentric child - C1 approaches extremely close to the star at perihelion! Its orbital period of 1.5 days allows for a slightly safer approach when compared to the famous Monde de la Mort near Colonia.
A catalog (real-life) system, one of the brightest detected X-ray sources in the Milky Way, and home to the player-created bubble called the Azura Initiative, the Great Annihilator is where we will stop, top up our tritium stores before proceeding toward the Far Leys.
This G class star hosts a ringed Hot Jupiter just 15 ls from arrival, which in turn hosts a moon with an extremely close orbit to itself. The Class V gas giant provides a daunting backdrop to screenshots taken on the surface of its moon.
The Hawking Nebula, home of the DSSA Bougainville, and our first stop properly inside the regions of the Far Leys. This fleet carrier orbits an Earth-like world within the nebula, and provides a little bastion of civilization at the edge of the great northeast.
This close trinary consists of three icy worlds in a tight dance. After a travel of a bit more than 20kls to the L dwarf, you are greeted by a very close orbiting pair of B 3 and B 4, both around or less than 1,000 km in radius and sporting a very tight orbit around their barycenter. A much larger third companion in B 2 (3,610 km radius) joins the party too, with all of those planets offering dramatic vistas of the other planets.
The area around this planetary nebula, named the Glass Float Nebula by our intrepid scout CMDR ComradeBrendan, is the only known area in the Far Leys where colored Lagrange clouds may be found. The nebula itself hosts a black hole as its primary star, with the nebula itself and a tiny Y class brown dwarf providing the only illumination within. Flying down to the surface of the landable moon in the system will reward you with eerie skies and black rings around the dwarf above.
Body 5 A is a moon in slightly inclined orbit that is very close to the outer edge of the rings of a brown dwarf. This causes the moon to dip slightly above and below the rings, causing them to form a ceiling that covers a third of the sky. The rings are listed as massive, wide, and having a high orbital velocity.
A single K type star system with three different NSP locations. 2 of which are host to Caeruleum and Luteolum colored Lagrange Clouds. These clouds are generated by the nearby Glass Float Nebula, and can be found in other nearby systems as well.
This system contains binary F/K stars - the secondary K star hosts a Proto Lagrange Cloud containing Peduncle Trees and Pods only 3.45 ls away from its center. These NSP bios are typical of the region, but the star's proximity here is overwhelming. The cloud itself is of an orange color that matches the star, turning the backdrop into a supersaturated wash of orange. At 494 ly above the plane, with low stellar density, the line of the galaxy is clearly visible in the opposite direction, even through the pervasive orange haze.
This system contains a gas giant with three rings, the third one being over 3 ls wide with an outer radius of over 8.5 ls. There is a huge gap of over 5 ls between the second and third ring, probably cleared out by four of its moons orbiting in between them. The orbit of the fifth moon (Hypo Brou MX-L d7-0 B 6 E) lies outside the outer ring and is inclined by over 85 degrees, providing a breathtaking view of the three ring systems and the inner moons from its icy surface.
An icy moon (body 4 c) orbiting a gas giant with wide icy rings that show several prominent ring arcs. Its inclined orbit (over 33 degrees) provides good views of the rings from the surface.
Metallic Gaze: The second planet of this system is a Class IV gas giant with a metal-rich moon (body 2 a) whose orbit is inclined by over 60 degrees. From the moon's surface, the wide metallic ring of the gas giant covers a large portion of the sky and looks almost like a giant eye watching over the desolate landscapes.
Valles Ignis: More than 60 kls from the entry point of this system sits a high metal content world with a closely orbiting moon (body D 1 a). At an orbital period of under 0.2 days, the parent body is an ever looming giant in the sky, frequently causing total eclipses. As a result of the strong tidal forces the parent exerts on it, the moon has a fractured surface with widespread geological activity.
Large landable moon in close, fast orbit around a water world moon of a ringed GG4. There are 3 other ringed gas giants in orbit around the parent as moons. The WW's moon also has 3 geological signals. The landable moon affords stunning views of the WW looming in the sky above, and can include views of the other 4 gas giants as well. The WW's orbit is about 5 ls out, and the furthest gas giant moon (10 D) is only out to 26 ls.
1,500 lightyears below the galactic plane is an F type star with a landable planet with a thin 'yellow sunset' ammonia atmosphere. The most notable feature of this planet is easily noticeable from supercruise: A large raised portion of the planet's crust hosting an expansive mountain range. It takes several hours to cross in its entirety via SRV, and most of the landmass is above 3,000 meters above the surrounding flat terrain.
Small black hole in the midst (and presumably the source) of a supernova remnant nebula reminiscent of Eta Carinae. Within the system, fluorescent blue clouds lie in all directions. Surrounding systems offer various viewing angles of the nebula, though it is fairly small in the sky in all but the nearest system, Joori OH-C c0, about 11 LY away.
A Proto Lagrange Cloud harboring Peduncle Trees just 3.65 ls from the main star. The system also features a landable rocky moon with a carbon dioxide atmosphere and 2 biologicals.
Located within visual range of the Flyai Flyuae AA-A H20 Nebula, this system presents a trinary formed between a Class M, a Neutron and a White Dwarf. However, that isn't what makes the system really catch the eye – it is the first landable object on the nav panel. Only a scant 51 ls away from arrival, it orbits quite close to the dancing trio. It allows for views of all celestial objects with fantastic fidelity.
The sole airless moon of a ringed brown dwarf, with an orbital inclination of -35.51 degrees and a mere 4.59 Ls orbital radius, offering stunning views of the parent star. The brown dwarf's rings are also reported by Elite Observatory to be massive, wide and have a high orbital velocity.
Scylla and Charybdis. This system features two unique ringed neutron stars. AB2, Scylla, receives external lighting from a nearby Class M star and so its rings are brightly illuminated and highly visible. Scylla's inner ring has an orbital period of only 15 minutes, allowing anyone who enters it to ride around the neutron star like a merry-go-round. AB3, Charybdis, receives no external lighting from any star, and its ring is completely dark and very perilous to approach, only visible when the passive light of the galactic disc is positioned behind it. You can find the IEA basecamp carrier TSL Walter Verlin stationed here for the duration of the expedition.
Body 2 B is a landable ringed icy body with an Argon atmosphere, orbiting its ringed parent at an inclination of 68.5 degrees. The ring of its parent looms in the sky, wide and complex, resulting in dramatic vistas from the surface of the moon.
This system is one of three featuring the P-Type anomalies found in the Veils. The NSP here contains P14-Type anomalies. This is not the only system featuring these anomalies – you may well find others if you scout around.
This system is one of three featuring the P-Type anomalies found in the Veils. The NSP here contains P12-Type anomalies. This is not the only system featuring these anomalies – you may well find others if you scout around.
This system is one of three featuring the P-Type anomalies found in the Veils. The NSPs here contain P08-Type and P09-Type anomalies. This is not the only system featuring these anomalies – you may well find others if you scout around.
This is a ringed atmospheric landable body within relatively close proximity to the orbiting gas giant, it has a noticeable orbital inclination to the gas giant making the rings visible, the atmosphere present is a beautiful thin nitrogen atmosphere and vast swatches of the landable body are a very distinct minty green color. You can find the IEA basecamp carrier Oppidumotive here for the duration of the expedition.
Dubbed the Grotto of Amethystos, planet ABC 1 is an Ammonia World with attractive banded rings. Nestled in one of the darker bands, where the rings are extremely thin, there is a location containing Purpureum and Roseum Ice Crystals, and Albidum Chalice Pods. The colourful glowing clouds of cold gas and the sparkling lights around the ice crystals create a magical environment, which is framed by the Ammonia world.
This system has a Class III gas giant with a binary pair of ice moons (5 d & 5 e) orbiting each other in 1.3 days. Both moons sport an alternative version of thin Neon atmospheres, with red daytime skies and blue sunset skies. Both have biological signs, featuring almost crystalline-looking Fonticulae as well as Fumerola Aquatis. Being near the edge of the galaxy, the noticeable lack of visible stars from the surfaces of these moons make for an eerie mood.
Muntasir. A rocky, landable moon (6 A A) in a staggeringly close orbit around a water world. Its surface geological signals, fast orbital period, and the fact that it is tidally locked, make for frequent dramatic views of the water world and its gas giant parent in the sky.
The source of the mysterious signal… what it might be, we will only know once we arrive.
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