After getting back from a three week trip out of the country I was ready once again to get back on elite and finally reach Crab Nebula.

The last leg of the journey wasn't too eventful.

I found an A class system with a terraformable water world and two very small gas giants with water life.

Over tbw course of my journey the Crab Nebula went from a small green smudge to a proper view of the nebula and the Pulsar with it.
The number of stars noticeably decreased as I could now see into the blackness of the Perseus Fade and out beyond the Outer Arm, into intergalactic space.

I found another system that seemed oddly quiet. It was an A class system with 4 grey, landable, HMCWs; one of which had a grey, landable, rocky moon.
The exception to the quietness was the furthest planet: a HMCW with a carbon dioxide atmosphere with small amounts of sulphur dioxide, enough of an atmosphere to hear the wind while using the FSS.

Three moons in one system had geo signs, two water geysers and one water magma. I decided to drop by to investigate.
I landed on the first moon and scanned the water ice geysers there. I launched myself a short distance into the sky with a few of them. There seemed to be some sort of extremely tenuous atmosphere here as the sky was rather hazy, although there was no atmosphere listed for this planet.
I skipped the second moon as it would surely be a repeat of the first. I couldn't land at the landing site on the third moon but I scanned the site as water ice fumaroles from my ship. I stopped just above the canyon they were in to get some pictures, then continued on.

I got some great views of the Crab Nebula as I approached it. The Crab Pulsar did not rotate as fast as other pulsars that I had seen online. Also in the Crab Pulsar system was a HMCW, a class IV gas giant, multiple red and brown dwarves and one fleet carrier, the C.S.H Wanderlust. Although I could've landed here to refuel and sell cartographic data, I decided to head to Station X to avoid tariffs and just so I could see it too.

I found that the system containing station X had nothing other than two T-Tauri stars and an asteroid belt each. Station X was located in the asteroid belt around star B.
Looking outwards from the galactic core was desolate with extremely sparse stars. When I am heading out towards the green gas giant out here I will have to pass through this desolate region.
Station X is an extraction station operated by the 41st Expeditionary Legion, an independent group. The Crab Operations Syndicate also exist in this station, but apparently hold little to no control.

I made almost 7 mil in cartographics but got no first discoveries (probably due to this location's popularity), and redeemed 50,000 in codex discoveries.

My next target, Dreamer's Blush, was over 2,320Ly away. I tried to plot a route there but failed. I added M type stars back into the mix and tried again. This time route plotting succeeded, it was zig zagging and roundabout in some parts towards the end which was sure to put extra distance on me but it got me where I wanted to go so its all good.
The route was 104 jumps, something which would for sure take a while, but hopefully the neutron jump at the start would give me a little headstart on this vast journey into the hazards of the Perseus Fade.
This route would also briefly bring me into Elysian Shore and would end in Kepler's Crest. By the time I entered Kepler's Crest I would truly be on the edge of the galaxy as I began to enter the Outer Arm Vacuus, a truly barren region with extremely low star density, situated right on the edge of intergalactic space, from here I would be able to stare into the void.

But all that will come later, the Crab Expedition will continue on another day.

I am developing a system to categorise nebulae based on visual appearance.
The upcoming Monkey Head Nebula is a type 1 nebula; this type of nebula is the same as Witch Head Nebula, Iris Nebula, Struve's Lost Nebula or any of the other nebulae that look the same as these. I have found that it is one of the most common types of nebula in the galaxy.

It was 14 jumps to the Monkey Head Nebula from my current position.

I found a binary K/M system with a distant third star.

I realised that my recent data hand in at Beta Site had earned me the rank of Pioneer.

Monkey Head was massive and quite awe inspiring when I got up close.

My target system at the end of the route had a very close A/K binary pair with an F class star about 930Ls out, there was also a class G almost 270kLs out.

From here I plotted a course to Crab Pulsar, 1,144Ly, 35 jumps away.

Crab Nebula was still only a small smudge in the distance.

I end today's journey with 25 jumps left to go to Crab Nebula.

I was about to make the 160Ly neutron jump to a system in Hypuae Ain Sector just beyond the Jellyfish Nebula. I was slightly nervous because the only other neutron jump I'd ever done was at Jackson's Lighthouse.
I successfully made the supercharged jump. From there it was 1,266Ly, 37 jumps to Monkey's Head Nebula.

I could see Monkey's Head quite clearly up ahead, I targeted Crab Pulsar to see if I could see the nebula yet but it was only a tiny speck.

I discovered a pink/red class III gas giant in Hypuae Ain AA-H d10-35. The main A class star and two brown dwarves were already discovered by someone else but the two gas giants and all the moons were previously undiscovered.

I found a ringed ammonia world that I stopped at to take some pictures. It had already been discovered but it provided a nice view.

1,625Ly, 43 jumps to the Jellyfish Nebula.

I changed route settings to avoid M and T Tauri class stars.

I found a planet that looked quite similar to Mars. It was about twice the size and therefore twice the mass and gravity but it had a similar atmospheric pressure and composition.

I discovered another F class star system: Pyurks KC-B d1-70.
It had plenty of landable worlds including HMCWs and rocky-icy worlds, but nothing too impressive, the entire system felt very quiet for some reason, perhaps all those barren rocky surfaces with no geo or bio signs in sight.

I entered an F class system with a trinary set of stars (1 F, two K) 33kLys away, I got first discovery on the three further stars.

First discovery on another system: Gludgeia KG-Y d11, it's main star was Class F with two Class K and a Class M stars as well. 4 gas giants as well as 3 small gas planets, one of which had water based life, a multitude of landable moons and bodies too. Plenty of geo signs on the moons, some hills and even mountains too. There was even a water world.

Got first discovery on a G class system with some non interesting HMCWs and another G class system with two M class stars.

I found an ammonia world in one system but it had already been discovered and mapped.

I passed through an A class system with a binary, binary pair of stars just over 42kLys away, there was a class F and K binary pair and a double K binary pair, both binaries orbiting around a common centre of gravity.

I got a view of what I think is the very distant Soul Nebula when I was on approach to the nebula.

I arrived in the neutron star system CXOU J061705.3+222127 inside the nebula and got some spectacular views, after docking in this nebulas asteroid base I would return here to get a boosted jump towards Monkey's Head Nebula.

I docked in the Beta Site asteroid base, an extraction base in the thin rings of a class III gas giant, controlled by Beta Site Operations.

I earned nearly 8.5million in cartographic data and got first discovery on Gludgeia KG-Y d11, Gludgeia JG-Y d38, Gludgeia IG-Y d70, Pyurks KC-B d1-70, and Gludgeia QM-W c1-17.

Next time will be a neutron boost towards the Monkey's Head Nebula. There isn't any station there to repair but any damage done to the FSD can be repaired in Station X in the Crab Nebula. From there I will probably neutron boost from the Crab Pulsar towards the Dreamer's Blush green gas giant, then return to Station X for repairs and neutron boost back towards Jellyfish Nebula where I can repair and neutron boost again, making a direct line back towards California Nebula and civilization.

The trip was uneventful up until I reached NGC 2244 Sector HV-W c2-19, a T-Tauri system within 6 jumps of the nebula.
There was several things I wanted to investigate here after scanning it due to its high number of bodies.

First was the closest body to the star, it was a metal rich body with silicate magma activity and 8 geo signs, I decided to drop by for a quick landing. There was some silicon dioxide fumaroles and I did some mat farming but other than that not much to see.

Next up is planet 4, a vibrant orange coloured HMCW with silicate magma activity and 19 geo signs. The surface of this planet was so bright it was almost yellow. There was silicate magma spouts at the geo sign. I drove around a bit then recalled my ship to continue.

Next up I was heading to a rocky ice world that seemed to be entirely devoid of ice. It was a dark black colour like a MRB. It had a water atmosphere so it seems that any ice evaporated into the atmosphere. When I got there, the planet was indeed quite dark, it looked almost like leather. I spotted a bright patch on the surface and initially thought it was soke kind of lava patch like what is usually seen on molten worlds, however it was just a reflection of the star that disappeared when I got close. Upon consulting the system map I found that there was indeed 22.5% ice, 66.5% rock and 10.9% metal.

The last spot I visited in this system was a binary pair of gas giants but they were too far apart to get good views so I left quickly enough.

My next jump was to an F class star in Col 107 Sector, I thought I was beyond the Col Sectors out here.

Rosette Sector CQ-Y d59 was in a state of civil unrest when I arrived. There was combat and pirate signals across the system and talk of war in the comms channel. I scavenged a high grade emission for some parts and found it full of the wreckage of fighters.
I went to investigate a bio signal on one of the rocky moons. It was some bark mounds which are (in my opinion) the modg boring bio signal but I still needed to scan them for the codex so it was worth it.

I landed at the New Beginning asteroid base, controlled by the New Dawn Commune. Here I refueled and fully repaired my ship integrity. I sold 6mil in cartographic data, one system was worth over 3mil by itself. I got 2 first discovered systems: Flyua Eork LX-R d5-4 and Pyurks LM-C b46-2. I also redeemed 152,500c of codex discoveries.

Not much happened on my way to the crystalline shards system.

On my journey I left Flyua Eork and briefly passed through Pyurks sector to enter NGC 2244 sector.

NGC 2244 CQ-O d6-29 had many gas giants: 1 class I, 2 class III, 1 class IV and 5 with water based life.
It also had 2 ringed icy bodies, 3 non landable HMCWs and many landable rocky or icy moons.

Many moons had relatively low plateaus on them but moon B3a had one massive mountain that rose up extremely high. Moon B4a contained the bio signals I was looking for so I planned on stopping at the huge mountain on B3a while en route.

Star B was a class K star just over 50kLs from the class F main star.
The massive mountain looked like it went halfway up to the exclusion zone so I'd estimate its height to be be approx 25km, I was unable to find a suitable landing site for my Asp Explorer and the darkness made it difficult to get any nice views so I didn't stick around too long.

I landed on moon B4a at one of the bio signs on the daylight side of the planet. The surface was grey and uninteresting but some mountains in the distance and a view of planet A3 provided a nice enough background for the crystals.
There was crystalline shards and sulphur dioxide fumaroles all across the site. I gathered a few pieces of sulphur from the piceous cobble that was around as it would be useful for synthesising SRV fuel if I needed it. After taking a good look around I returned to my ship.

From here I was a bit over halfway between the Seagull and Rosette Nebulae and I was basically across the Orio-Persean Gap, now entering the Perseus Arm.
My next target was Rosette Sector CQ-Y d59, an inhabited B class system in the middle of the Rosette Nebula, home to the New Beginning asteroid base.
It was 722Ly, 19 jumps to reach there. From there I would turn and head up the Perseus Arm to the Jellyfish Nebula which housed the Beta Site asteroid base. From there I would traverse the Perseus Arm to reach the uninhabited Monkey's Head Nebula then cross through a small part of the Perseus Fade to reach the Crab Nebula which contained Crab Pulsar and Station X asteroid base.
From there I was considering an extension across the Perseus Fade to Gongae QW-L c24-0, a system containing a glowing green gas giant known as Dreamer's Blush. From there I may or may not launch an expedition to Exteriores Australis via the Serebrov Crossing, depending on how I feel and if it would be viable to cross with my 40Ly jump range AspX in a timely manner, I had heard that it was possible in ships with a lower jump range than mine but that auto route plotting stopped working and FSD boosts were needed.

Mountaineering log for mountains on Flyua Eork SN-P b11-0 planet C2.

Started from base camp basin (28.2589° -85.4489°)

At a time of approx 17:40 minutes suffered a minor tumble down a cliff into a small valley, minor damage sustained.

At a time of approx 20:30 minutes encountered two samples of mesodiderite.

At a time of 27:30 minutes the summit of red sun spire was reached (27.8226° -85.5100)

At a time of exactly 30:00 minutes descent began.

At 35:20 mins attempted to recall ship. Ship was unable to land in that location.

At 46:00 mins reached base camp basin and recalled the ship (28.2428° -85.4668°)

At 47:20 mins successfully boarded the ship and ended the trip.

Peak was measured to be 7.87km above the lowlands, however base camp basin is already a kilometre or two above the lowlands so the climb is approximately 5km upwards.
Climb was not extremely difficult but was challenging enough to be interesting.

I investigated the multiple orbiting HMCWs in Flyua Eork OI-S e4-1 at the start of this session, they weren't as visually interesting as I had hoped.

I was going to take a trip to one of the gas giants in this system, BC1.
This giant had mountains on most of its moons, in particular the mountains on moon A looked interesting and the mountains on D looked to be the highest.

Unfortunately the planet was over 182kLs away, making the journey excessively tedious. Reluctantly, I abandoned my effort to reach the planet and its mountainous moons.

I plotted a course to a system in NGC 2244 sector; 1,267Ly, 37 jumps away.
This particular system, NGC 2244 sector CQ-O d6-29, contained crystalline shards which I intended to investigate.
NGC 2244 is a cluster of blue-white stars just beyond Rosette Nebula.
This route would take me across the Orio-Persean Gap, an interarm rift between the Orion Spur and Perseus Arm.

While en route I got a first discovery on the Flyua Eork LX-R d5-4 system. This was my first system that I discovered that wasn't an M class star, instead this one was F class.
I discovered all bodies and mapped planet 1, a water world, and it's terraformable rocky moon.

I landed on a mountainous world orbiting a L class star in a random M class system (Flyua Eork SN-P b11-0 planet C2). I found a landing spot at 28.2589° -85.4489° and I intend to scale a nearby mountain peak next time.

From my location just outside Hell Port, it was 447Ly, 14 jumps, to the next wayoint; the system of Flyua Eork OI-S e4-1 reportedly contained some rubeum bioluminescent anemones and was the next stopover between the Seagull and Rosette Nebulae.

I soon encountered an F class system with a relatively close K class. The system had some interesting looking HMCWs (including one with extremely large polar ice caps) and 3 landable MRBs however it had nothing interesting enough to be worth investigating.

Flyua Eork OI-S e4-1 contained two B class stars and a K class orbited by multiple gas giants (classes II, III and V), many brown dwarves and an abundance of terrestrial worlds and moons including three ringed HMCWs.
One particularly interesting area was a binary pair of HMCWs that was orbited by another HMCW. One of the binary pair also had a ring and 3 barren, rocky moons.
There were some interesting looking mountains on the moons of planet BC1, especially moon C.

I went to planet A5, a ringed HMCW with bio signs and 1.53Gs gravity. It wad in a binary pair with brown dwarf A4. I had a slightly rough landing since I wasn't keeping track of my altitude but when I got down to the site I got some great views of the anemones, rings, and neighboring brown dwarf.
I made a note to go explore the mountains and binary HMCW group next time and logged of on the surface.

It was only 8 jumps to BD+10 1848, a star system at the centre of the Seagull Nebula, from Sagan Research Centre.

I passed through an F class system with an ammonia world. The game froze while attempting to open the system map so I had to reload the game. Some of the planets orbiting star C, a red dwarf had bio signs, I was divided over visiting them as as they were alll over 100kLs away. Upon checking the codex I determined that they could be bark mounds, bioluminescent anemones or crystalline shards. I would be fine traveling the distance for either of the latter but traveling that far for bark mounds would be a great waste. Upon consultation with the EDSM codex I discovered them to be bark mounds.

I didn't find anything interesting until I reached BD+10 1848. There I found 3 class IV gas giants, 2 class V gas giants, a class III gas giant, a brown dwarf, a molten HMCW over 4kLs out, a landable HMCW and a landable rocky moon.

I took a good look and then continued on towards Hell Port. Hell Port was a quite a bit away from the main star. I got a nice view of the nebula as well as Hell Port's host planet and star while there. Hell Port is controlled by the Black Rock Military, an anarchy faction. Despite only having a short trip between Thor's Helmet and Seagull, I still made over 2 million in cartographics. While here I upgraded my 4E power distributer to a 4D.

Seagull Nebula
Colour: 5/10, colours look nice in some situations but I prefer other colours.
Prominence: 9/10
Accessibility: 5/5
Station bonus: 3/3
Interesting phenomenon: 0/5
Total: 22/33