Departure: June 9, 2020
Offical End: August 4, 2020
-- End of EDSM tracking for latecomers: September 4, 2020
Brief: This expedition focuses on real celestial objects. We will be travelling up to Messier 67 with Fleet Carriers to allows to safely return from it. From there we will go southward to 3 Geminorum and make a circuitous route back home.
Given the name of Keltim once populated, this system was known to pre-interstellar humanity as Gliese 149. It is a binary system containing the stars CD-24 1826 and WT 1402. They are a K4.5V and a M3.5D spectral type stars respecitvely. The system is located in the Fornax constelllation of the sky.
Lambda-2 Fornacis, also known as HD 16417 is the site of a confirmed extrasolar planet, HD 16417b. In-game this is listed as Lambda-2 Fornacis 2 and is a Neptune-mass gas giant with a roughly 17 day orbital period.
WDS J03182-6230AB is a binary star system containined Zeta-1 Reticuli and Zeta-2 Reticuli, two members of the Zeta Hercules Moving Group.
Particularly of interest in our case was a fictional planet orbiting Zeta-2 Reticuli that was the setting of the 1979 movie Alien, as well as its sequel Aliens.
Humanity later by the year 2020 had confirmed that there was no planets orbiting Zeta-2 Reticuli, which was the original hypothesis for the lower than expected luminosity seen from these stars when the movies were made in 1979.
However, even before those movies the system was thought to be the origin of UFOs and "Grays" due to a star map drawn by Betty Hill in 1961 claiming to have been abducted by aliens.
More accurate observations of the stars in the late 1990s showed that they actually matched the luminosity they would be expected to have.
Also known as Sigma Octantis is the Earth's South Star, as opposed to Polaris that is Earth's North Star. Unlike Polaris however, at an apparent magnitude of 5.42 it is only slightly bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, making it difficult to use for navigation purposes.
The Geminga Pulsar, discovered by Giovanni Bignami is one of the EGRET Six pulsars, the first six pulsars known to emit high-energy gamma rays of greater than 100 MeV. They were studied by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope between 1991 and 2002 providing early evidence that pulsars are the best sources of high-energy gamma rays.
POI: NGC 2632, aka The Beehive Cluster, Praesepe, Messier 44
NGC 2632 is an open cluster in the Cancer constellation, and one of the nearest open clusters to our own solar system. It has been known since ancient times and was one of the first objects studied by Galileo with his telescope.
NOT a real celestial objects, but required for the purposes of reaching Messier 67.
This is where the Fleet Carriers will need to congregate to taxi players into Messier 67. This will also be the system the fleet carriers will return to. This system is the "Point of Know Return" requiring the fleet carriers to make the return to. (Hence the name Camp Kansas)
An open star cluster in the constellation Auriga. Observations by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory suggest that it contains approximately 4600 young stellar objects.
Blue supergiant in the constellation Gemini. It was found to e an Alpha Cygni Variable star in 1998 and also given the designation PU Geminorum, and it varies by a few tenths of a magnitude on a period of 3.81 days. 3 Geminorum is a double star with it's second star being about 2.5 magnitudes fainter.
The Crab Pulsar (PSR B0531+21) is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054.[4][5][6] Discovered in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant.
NGC 2244 (also known as Caldwell 50 or the Satellite Cluster) is an open cluster in the Rosette Nebula, which is located in the constellation Monoceros. This cluster has several O-type stars, super hot stars that generate large amounts of radiation and stellar wind.
The age of this cluster has been estimated to be less than 5 million years. The brightest star in the cluster is 12 Monocerotis, a foreground K-class giant. The two brightest members of the cluster are HD 46223 of spectral class O4V, 400,000 times brighter than the Sun, and approximately 50 times more massive, and HD 46150, whose spectral type is O5V, has a luminosity 450,000 time larger than that of our star, and is up to 60 times more massive, but it may actually be a double star.
Rosette Sector CQ-Y d59 (New Beginning / Rosette Nebula)
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.
The complex has the following New General Catalogue (NGC) designations:
NGC 2237 – Part of the nebulous region (Also used to denote whole nebula)
NGC 2238 – Part of the nebulous region
NGC 2239 – Part of the nebulous region (Discovered by John Herschel)
NGC 2244 – The open cluster within the nebula (Discovered by John Flamsteed in 1690)
NGC 2246 – Part of the nebulous region
IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular H II region centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."
The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by amateur astronomers to this emission region, although it more properly includes the neighboring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae. This latter region includes the open clusters NGC 2335 and NGC 2343.
NGC 2359 (also known as Thor's Helmet) is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) away and 30 light-years in size. The central star is the Wolf-Rayet star WR7 (aka: ALS 299), an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. It is similar in nature to the Bubble Nebula, but interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to the more complex shape and curved bow-shock structure of Thor's Helmet.
NGC 2818 is a planetary nebula located in the southern constellation Pyxis (The Compass). It consists largely of glowing gases from the star's outer layers ejected during the final stages of its life when it had run out of the fuel necessary to sustain its core fusion processes.
NGC 2792 is a Planetary Nebula in the Vela constellation. NGC 2792 is situated south of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere.
NGC 3211 is a small blue planetary nebula in Carina and below most of the galactic plane. It was discovered by John Herschel on Mar 7th, 1837. The nebula offers a good view of the nearby Eta Carina nebula.
The Carina Nebula (catalogued as NGC 3372; also known as the Grand Nebula, Great Nebula in Carina, or Eta Carinae Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.
Trumpler 16 (Tr 16) is a massive open cluster that is home to some of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way galaxy. It is situated within the Carina Nebula complex in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm, located approximately 9,270 ly (2,842 pc) from Earth. The cluster has one star visible to the naked eye from the tropics southward, Eta Carinae.
Eta Carinae (η Carinae, abbreviated to η Car), formerly known as Eta Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around 7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs) distant in the constellation Carina. Previously a 4th-magnitude star, it brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel, marking the start of its so-called "Great Eruption". It became the second-brightest star in the sky between 11 and 14 March 1843 before fading well below naked eye visibility after 1856. In a smaller eruption, it reached 6th magnitude in 1892 before fading again. It has brightened consistently since about 1940, becoming brighter than magnitude 4.5 by 2014.
NGC 3293 is an open cluster in the Carina constellation. It was discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1751. It consists of more than 100 stars brighter than 14th magnitude in a 10 arc minute field, the brightest of which are blue supergiants of apparent magnitude 6.5 and 6.7. There is also a 7th magnitude pulsating red supergiant, V361 Carinae.
Also known as V382 Carinae, this is a yellow hypergiant in the constellation Carina. It is a G-type star with a mean apparent magnitude of +3.93, and a variable star of low amplitude.
Statue of Liberty Sector LC-V c2-12 (Statue of Liberty Nebula)
NGC 3576 is a minor nebula in the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy a few thousand light-years away from the Eta Carinae nebula. This nebula even received six different classification numbers. Currently, astronomers call the entire nebula NGC 3576. A popular nickname is "The Statue of Liberty Nebula" because of the distinctive shape in the middle of the nebula. The name was first suggested in 2009 by Dr. Steve Mazlin, a member of Star Shadows Remote Observatory (SSRO).
IC 2944 HG 10004 (IC 2944 - The Running Chicken Cluster)
IC 2944, also known as the Running Chicken Nebula or the λ Centauri Nebula, is an open cluster with an associated emission nebula found in the constellation Centaurus, near the star λ Centauri. It features Bok globules, which are frequently a site of active star formation. However, no evidence for star formation has been found in any of the globules in IC 2944.
NGC 3590 is a small open cluster of stars around 7500 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). It is a gathering of dozens of stars loosely bound together by gravity and is roughly 35 million years old.
NGC 3918 is a bright planetary nebula in the constellation Centaurus, nicknamed the "Blue Planetary" or "The Southerner". It is the brightest of the far southern planetary nebulae. This nebula was discovered by Sir John Herschel in March 1834, and is easily visible through small telescopes.
NGC 3699 is a small but moderately bright planetary nebula situated in the narrow strip of Centaurus that separates Crux Australis and Carina. It is almost half way between the Southern Cross and the NGC 3372
IC 4406 is a planetary nebula near the western border of the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. It has dust clouds and has the shape of a torus. Despite this, it looks somewhat rectangular because it is seen from its side as viewed from Earth, almost in the plane of its equator.
The Butterfly Cluster (cataloged as Messier 6 or M6, and as NGC 6405) is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Scorpius. Its name derives from the vague resemblance of its shape to a butterfly.
NGC 5189 (Gum 47, IC 4274, nicknamed Spiral Planetary Nebula) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Musca. It was discovered by James Dunlop on 1 July 1826, who catalogued it as Δ252. For many years, well into the 1960s, it was thought to be a bright emission nebula. It was Karl Gordon Henize in 1967 who first described NGC 5189 as quasi-planetary based on its spectral emissions.
NGC 3532 (Caldwell 91), also commonly known as the Pincushion Cluster, Football Cluster, the Black Arrow Cluster and the Wishing Well Cluster, is an open cluster some 405 parsecs from Earth in the constellation Carina. Its population of approximately 150 stars of 7th magnitude or fainter includes seven red giants and seven white dwarfs.
The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a dark nebula of gas and dust that is located 1° south of the star ρ Ophiuchi of the constellation Ophiuchus. At an estimated distance of 131 ± 3 parsecs,[2][4] it is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System
θ Carinae, Latinized as Theta Carinae, is a spectroscopic binary star in the southern constellation of Carina. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.76, it is the brightest star in the open star cluster IC 2602. It marks the northeastern end of the Diamond Cross asterism. Parallax measurements from the Hipparcos mission place this star at a distance of about 460 light-years (140 parsecs) from Earth.
Beta Hydrae (Beta Hya, β Hydrae, β Hya) is a double star in the constellation of Hydra. Its overall apparent visual magnitude varies by 0.04 magnitudes with a period of 2.344 days, and is approximately 4.27 at maximum brightness.
The Pleiades (/ˈpliːədiːz/,[7] /ˈplaɪədiːz/[8]), also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, are an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. It is among the star clusters nearest to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.
The Japanese car company Subaru is named after this star cluster, as the Japanese name of the cluster is Subaru.
LBN 623 Nebula, also known as IC63, is a dark purple emission nebula. It has also been called the Gamma Cassiopeiae nebula due to visual proximity of that bright star and the nebula as seen from old Earth.
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