Celebration of Early Astronomy Expedition

Celebration of Early Astronomy -- Departing January 3, 2020 through March 20, 2020

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"The early 2000s, they were often the speculative setting of early science fiction works. Early imaginings of interstellar travel, first contact with aliens, apocalypses, you name it, there was probably a movie or book set in the early 21st century of it. While humanity may not have invented interstellar travel by 2020 as many novels and films purported, they still discovered plenty of gems of our galaxy by then.


Lucky for us in 3305 we do have interstellar travel and can visit these gems that humans on Earth in the early 21st century could only dream of visiting. So that is just what we will be setting out to do. This expedition will visit many of the noteworthy celestial objects discovered by the early 21st century, some of which even still are considered noteworthy even today in 3305.

We will be setting off from the Simbad's Refuge station in Nu Tauri. Named after the SIMBAD star catalogue used in the late 20th and early 21st century, located in the Nu Tauri system of the Taurus constellation."
- CMDR Kezika​

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A vast majority of the in-game galaxy is procedurally generated, but as part of its creation, data from real celestial objects was also added in. The landmarks in this expedition are all real actual celestial objects. While stuff in their systems, or in the case of nebulae the systems themselves, may be procedurally generated based on the input information, the landmarks themselves are very much real. This expedition is to set out to visit many of those, including items that were notable when discovered, and to explore the procedurally generated spaces between them, and perhaps in them with the recent addition of Notable Stellar Phenomena.

Note, that as we get further from Earth the distances between landmarks begins to increase simply due to how little we actually know about our real sky so far, and the difficulty in resolving specific objects thousands of lightyears away. The waypoints nearer the galactic center also tend to be more pulsars and quasars as well because of this.

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Please fill out a sign-up form if you're coming along!
Note: even if you're not sure yet all your details, the form will give you an edit link once you submit so that you can come back and edit your submission in the future with any changes you make. Just make sure to save your link!

Sign-up form: https://expedition.page.link/Register
Roster: https://expedition.page.link/Roster
EDSM Page: https://expedition.page.link/EDSM1

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Other details
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Length and Route


* - Note that there are some non-procedurally named nebula out there that use a procedurally generated shape as their representation, I have had to sadly nix a few of those such as the Cat's Paw Nebula and NGC 6188 for example.

Summary and Information

Waypoint Count: 62 primary with 3 non-primary*
Expedition Discord: https://discord.gg/Te3M24d

Notes: Some of the systems may be difficult to reach on shorter jump range ships, as well as shorter jump range ships potentially having difficulty in navigating the region in and around Barnard's Loop. It is recommended to bring a ship with at least 30Ly of jump range. The first two weeks will be shorter distances, however as we start getting further away from Earth, the amount of distance covered per week will increase greatly as the number of waypoints on the leg decrease. For specifics on that the longest single week leg is on the return trip, and is 22k Ly. Besides that one I have kept the rest of the legs to less than 15k Ly per weeks (some are longer, but two week length.) The specific distances will be listed below.

EDSM Trackers Note: If you are tracking your expedition progress using EDSM once we are imported over there it is important that despite the two being located very close to each other, that you do NOT visit Trappist-1 after you have left from Nu Tauri, as visiting Trappist-1 will signify to EDSM that you have completed your expedition. (I am attempting to get this imported to EDSM as soon as possible, it should be there soon)

Non-Primary Waypoints: The non-primary waypoints are ones of interest, but they are either a major detour, or are very difficult to reach for ships without extreme jump ranges.


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Map
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Key:
Blue: Main Route
Orange: Route including non-primary waypoints
Red: Stations and other POIs outside the inhabited bubble.
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Legs


Waypoints

Note that these are subject to change (additions only unless I found out one of these is unreachable) as I am still burying my head into SIMBAD and EDSM comparing them for non-procedural objects and adding ones that are close enough and in-game.

#: Waypoint [ - Basecamp if applicable] [(Galaxy Map Reference if different from Waypoint name)]
Waypoints with decimals are non-primary waypoints for the extra ambitious

For our full descriptions and write-ups on each of the checkpoints head over to our EDSM route here and then click the magnifying glasses over on the right side of the waypoints' row to get more information, including links to the respective pages for the celesital object on the SIMBAD Strasbourg database.

Leg 1 (Fri. 1/3 -> Fri. 1/10)

1: Nu Tauri - Simbad's Refuge asteroid base
2: W Ursae Majoris
3: Betelgeuse
4: T Tauri
5: Y Canum Venaticorum
5.1: Lich (PSR J1300+1240)​
6: Keck Binary Pulsar (PSR J0751+1807)
7: Pi Puppis
8: Vela Pulsar
9: Collinder 140 Open Cluster (HIP 38064)
10: VY Canis Majoris
11: Mu Columbae
12: Alnitak
13: Mintaka
14: Rigel
15: Spirograph Nebula (BD-12 1172)

Leg 2 - (Fri. 1/10 -> Fri. 1/17)

1: EZ Orionis
2: Orion Nebula (OW Orionis)
3: HD 39716
4: HR 1950
5: Messier 78 (Trapezium Sector CB-W C2-3)
6: Horsehead Nebula (Trapezium Sector VY-A C8)
7: HD 38563C

  • Freely exploring the Barnard's Loop area
  • An objective for those interested and good at pathfinding.

Leg 3 - (Fri. 1/17 -> Fri. 1/24)

1,2: Collinder 69 Open Cluster
1: DM99 58.3​
2: BSM2011 E110​
3: AE Aurigae
4,5: NGC 1333
4: EES2009 Persei J03286006+3122826​
5: 2MASS J03292407+3119577​
6: 53 Arietis
7: V Cygni (HIP 102082)
8: Deneb (Alpha Cygni)
9: Veil West Nebula (Veil West Sector DL-Y D68)
10: North America Nebula (North America Sector LC-V C2-3)
11: Pelican Nebula (North America Sector JH-V C2-26)
12: S171 43

Leg 4 - (Fri. 1/24 -> Fri. 2/7)

0.1: Bow-Tie Nebula (NGC 40 Star)
0.2: GCRV 2334
1: Heart and Soul Nebulae (Hypoae Ain MO-I D9-37)
2: RS Persei
2.1: NGC 281 (BD+55 191)​
3: Bubble Nebula (Bubble Sector PD-S B4-4)
4: Mu Cephei
5: KY Cygni

Leg 5 - (Fri. 2/7 -> Sun. 2/23)

1: Cygnus OB2-12 (HIP 101364)
2: V1357 Cygni
3: NGC 6886 (CSI+19-20105)
4: LGM-1
5: PSR J1901+0716
6: V1343 Aquilae
7: Kes-75 Magnetar (PSR J1846-0258)

Leg 6 - (Sun. 2/23 -> Sun. 3/15)

Edited in Note: Apparently I forgot to edit this here too in time. But it is a shorter route to hit XTE J1752-223 then GRS 1758-258, which is how the EDSM roster has it set, I'm leaving this list here in the unedited order since some people may have began using it in this order here as we're already well into this leg, just keep that in mind if you're using this list as your reference for waypoints.

1
: GRS 1758-258
2: XTE J1752-223
3: OGLE235-MOA53
4: OGLE-2007-BLG-368L
5: GRS 1730-312
6: OGLE 2005-BLG-390L (OGLE-05-390L)
6.1: Great Annihilator​
7: PSR J1748-2446A
8: Sagittarius A* & S2 (Sagittarius A*)
9: G2 Gas Cloud (G2 Dust Cloud Sector JH-V C2-7255)

Leg 7 - (Sun. 3/15 -> Thu. 4/2)

1: GRS 1737-31
2: SLX 1746-331
3: GX 339-4 (V821 Arae)
4: GHJ2008 3
5: V381 Normae
6: Circinus Pulsar

Leg 8 - (Thu. 4/2 -> Sun. 4/12)

1: TrA X-1
2: PSR J1709-4429
3: V1033 Scorpii
3.1: OGLE-05-071L​
4: Pismis 24-1 & Lobster Nebula (Cl Pismis 2)

Leg 9 - (Sun. 4/12 -> Sun. 4/26)

1: BD-21 4483
2: CD-23 14350
3: SSTGLMC G014.1819-00.5307
4: SO4-H1E 2000
5: HD 112272
6: OGLE2-TR-L9
7: QZ Carinae
8: OGLE-TR-113
9: Fine Ring Nebula (Shapley 1)
10: HR 6164
11: 46 Upsilon Sagitarii
12: Snake Nebula (Snake Sector PD-S B4-1)
13: Antares
14: HR 6628
15: Pipe Nebula (HIP 84605)
16: Coronet Pulsar (PSR J1856-3754)
17: HIP 91911
18: TRAPPIST-1




This post will be edited and replied to in the upcoming weeks with more substantial information regarding the waypoints as well as any tertiary information that would be useful for the expedition, such as navigation tips around permit locked sectors for example in the Barnard's Loop area.


The specifics, EDSM Links, SIMBAD Links, and notes of the rest of the waypoints will be announced in the coming weeks. However the planned route goes around some things in and near "The Bubble", to the areas in and around Barnard's Loop. Out to The Bubble Nebula, then proceeds towards the Galactic Core, eventually stopping off at the G2 Dust Cloud, which is a little past Sagittarius A*, one of the furthest reachable non-procedural celestial object I am aware of in the in-game universe (the furthest being GRS 1737-31), and then proceeds back with some items on an optional return route to the core worlds with the final destination being TRAPPIST-1, the system that Elite: Dangerous' Stellar Forge basically predicted and sort of where the real meets the procedural.


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Discoveries Form:https://expedition.page.link/Discoveries

If you find any cool stuff while on the expedition near or on the route, please input them here on this spreadsheet to share with the others on the expedition using the Form linked to in the top row of the spreadsheet:

Tools
Spreadsheet with relevant deep space outposts and stations and inputs to help you quickly and easily find what the nearest deep space outpost to you is: https://expedition.page.link/NearestStation
Note that only one of the Witch Head Stations is in the list just for the sake of brevity being all in close proximity to each other.​

Leg 1

Mass Jump Times
: January 3rd.
  • European: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)
  • American: 6:00 PM Pacific / 7 Mountain / 8 Central / 9 Eastern
Reaching Optional Waypoint: Lich
Note: I have received information that a shorter gap exists from #17 in the above linked route by jumping from Ushott ST-Z D0 instead. I was informed this was a 90.99 Ly jump instead of a 110.31 Ly gap. This will allow ships with a 45.50 Ly jump range to reach Lich with FSD Injection.​

Basecamp: BD-12 1172
Planet: 2​
Coordinates: Bio Site 1​
Beware, high gravity
Leg 2

Mass Jump Time
: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)
Secondary: CMDR VoltAmp will be running a launch out at 8:00 PM CST (1/18 2:00 AM UTC)​

Special Event!: Pathfinding Challenge
The permit locked Col 70 Sector can be a bit of a nuisance, especially when it comes to reaching the HD 30688 and potentially even the HD 26693 system, which is a good jaunt directly below Barnard's Loop and offers the potential of a spectacular view of Barnard's Loop in front of a more spread out galactic disk. The first, HD 30688 is located 863.25 Ly below the galactic plane, and the second is located 1201 Ly below the galactic.​
Unfortunately a big chunk of the Col 70 Sector lies directly below Barnard's Loop, making a straight line travel to these systems impossible. One goal for those interested in plotting routes is to try and plot a route around the Col 70 permit lock region down below Barnard's Loop and then to HD 30688 and then if even possible to HD 26693.​

Basecamp: HD 38563C
Planet: ABCDE 1 J​
Coordinates: -23.8962, 87.232 (in a decent sized crater)​
Other nearby points of interest.

Leg 3

Mass Jump Time:
19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)

Basecamp: S171 43
Specific location: Planet A 11 A, bio site 2.​
Other nearby points of interest:
  • Spinward Marches Alliance Concern Systems
    • This is a set of four populated systems that is not too far off the route between 53 Arietis and HIP 102082
      • BD+22 4939 (Shipyard at Hansford's Landing)
      • Col 285 Sector BB-O C6-10
      • Col 285 Sector BB-O C6-3
      • Synuefai LC-C b46-1
    • Here is a map of leg 3 showing their relative position to the route: https://theexpedition.info/Misc/Leg3.png
Special Note

Be aware that some of the waypoints for this leg are more of a "region" waypoint whereas the waypoint itself isn't the POI but groups of real stars near them.
It is recommended to fly "economical routing" (or at least make a few stops within the star tube to see what you can find that may be interesting) through these "star tubes"
These are:

  • Collinder 69 Open Cluster
    • Start: DM99 58.3
    • End: BSM2011 E110
  • NGC 1333 Stellar Formation Region
    • Start: EES2009 Persei J03286006+3122826
    • End: 2MASS J03292407+3119577

Leg 4: 1/24 -> 2/7

Basecamp
: (Due to no landables in the KY Cygni system, the basecamp is in the neighboring system of Sifou WP-G D10-28)
Object: AB 9 A Geo 2​
Notes: This is a nearby system. The mass jump out of this system will jump TO KY Cygni this time around.​
Mass Jumps
Mid-Leg: There is the chance of a mid-leg mass jump, this has yet to be scheduled though​
Leg-end: (Saturday the 8th this time around)

  • European: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)
  • American: 6:00 PM Pacific / 7 Mountain / 8 Central / 9 Eastern
(FYI, I will not be in attendance of these mass jumps for this leg due to scheduling conflicts, if you are having trouble with instancing please make sure to ask in the Discord for assistance getting winged in)
Other nearby points of interest

  • Gorgon Research Facility
    • This is right near the start of this leg in the S171 cluster in the system NGC 7822 sector BQ-Y D12
  • The Zurara
    • 5,595.46 Ly away from our waypoint for The Bubble Nebula, it is "relatively" nearby for anyone that wishes to visit it in it's system Syreadiae JX-F C0
  • Eafots Sector
    • You can get a badge on EDSM by visiting any Eafots system, which is down near our waypoint for The Bubble Nebula. You will likely fly through this if you head out to The Zurara anyhow.
  • Heart and Soul stations
    • There is a station in each Nebula, one named Base Camp in Soul Sector EL-Y D7 as well as Farsight Expedition Base in Heart Sector IR-V B2-0

Special Notes

Be aware that this is a two week leg that is running until the 7th of February.

Leg 5: 2/7 -> 2/23

Basecamp
: PSR J1846-0258
Body: A 5 A​
Location: Geo Site 5​
Mass Jumps:
  • European: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)
  • American: 6:00 PM Pacific / 7 Mountain / 8 Central / 9 Eastern

Leg 6: 2/23 -> 3/15

Notes: For the OGLE waypoints, note that the items of interest there are the planets rather than the stars themselves.

Basecamp
: G2 Dust Cloud Sector JH-V C2-7255
Body: A 2 E​
Location: 60.2937, -119.28​
Once you are getting close to those coordinates a large prominent blue mountain/plateau should be in view, and the basecamp is on top of that.​
Other nearby places to check out:
  • GRS 1739-278
  • XTE J1748-288
  • V4641 Sagittarii

Mass Jump: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock), corresponds for America to Noon Pacific,1 PM Mountain, 2 PM Central, 3 Eastern
SRV Race: Starting at 18:00 UTC (hour before the mass jump)​

Leg 7: 3/15 -> 4/2

Basecamp: Circinus Pulsar
Location: A 6 A - Geo Site 7​
Mass Jumps
  • European: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock)
  • American: 6:30 PM Pacific / 7:30 Mountain / 8:30 Central / 9:30 Eastern

Leg 8: 4/2 -> 4/12

Basecamp: Cl Pismis 2
Location: (Neighboring system: Cl Pismis 17): CL Pismis 17 7 B A - Bio Site 1
Mass Jump: 19:00 UTC (same as in-game clock), corresponds for America to Noon Pacific,1 PM Mountain, 2 PM Central, 3 Eastern


Leg 9: 4/12 -> 4/26 (Final Leg!)

Basecamp: TRAPPIST-1
Location: 1 A - Geological Site 7​

Notes to be aware of:
Antares: For some reason this system drops you in at the secondary star Antares B, and you will need to fly to the main star Antares which is the actual point of interest of that waypoint.​
Hr 6164: WARNING HIGH GRAVITY There is a special surface POI that you can drop in on on one of the planets. Make sure to level your ship out before dropping on it as the planet has 3.3g. Otherwise this might happen: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/15/elite-dangerous-exploration-fleet-suffers-30-deaths/
SnakeSector PD-S b4-1: Alternate viewing angle to match how it looks from Earth: Pipe (Stem) Sector QT-R C4-8​
Expedition Conclusion Party: Starting at 19:00 UTC and going until 22:00 UTC (or later if people wish to stay)
(Location may be mobile, so ask in the Discord or DM me if not at the basecamp)​
19:00 UTC to American time zones: Noon Pacific,1 PM Mountain, 2 PM Central, 3 Eastern​
22:00 UTC to American time zones: 3PM Pacific, 4 PM Mountain, 5 PM Central, 6 PM Eastern​
 
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I'm not sure what my schedule will look like, but there's a lot on this list that I haven't visited yet (and a lot of others that I have visited too). I'm happy to sign up.
 
I'm not sure what my schedule will look like, but there's a lot on this list that I haven't visited yet (and a lot of others that I have visited too). I'm happy to sign up.

That is perfectly fine. Thankfully the route as you can see in the map happens to kind of zig-zag between the weeks so if you're busy on some particular week and don't have much playtime the length to "skip ahead" to the next week's starting point so to speak should be fairly short for you or anyone else in such a situation.
 
For anyone subscribed on this thread, FYI we will be moving the dates of our expedtion back so as to not overlap with Stellar Unknown so people that wish to can attend both expeditions. We are still nailing down the exact dates, but we are looking to launch sometime in either December 2019 or January 2020.
 
Aye, loving the concept of this expedition! True-to-life celestial data and the 1:1 scale galaxy was always something that drew me to ED. Have also wanted to visit the Bubble Nebula but it should be funner with company. Count me in! As for the dates, might I cast a vote for January 2020 perhaps? I'm expecting to join the Christmas Carriers Convoy that happens every December ;)
 
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Aye, loving the concept of this expedition! True-to-life celestial data and the 1:1 scale galaxy was always something that drew me to E:D. Have also wanted to visit the Bubble Nebula but it should be funner with company. Count me in! As for the dates, might I cast a vote for January 2020 perhaps? I'm expecting to join the Christmas Carriers Convoy that happens every December ;)

Thank you for that information, good to know about that convoy going on around that time as well. I am leaning a bit towards January as it is already as well so as just not to conflict with the various religious holidays and how busy that can make people with family road trips and all that during the month of December.
 
I am hoping to wrap up my own expedition by early next year - so with pushing back the start until after Stellar Unknown has finished also - makes it much more likely I can join...

I unless you mind editing my entire entry later - I cannot fill out the registration form at this time - as I will probably look into a new Exploration Build - as well as my Anaconda has served me throughout DW2 and beyond...But I literally have no idea what I’ll try flying next year...

o7
Dan
 
Not a problem at all actually. The registration form will actually provide you with a link to be able to edit it at the end that you can bookmark somewhere in case you need to change any of your information
 
There's quite a few places on that list that I haven't visited yet, so tentatively interested. I'm currently approaching the halfway point of the LRH3305 expedition which ends in the bubble, so assuming I'm back in time I should be able to make this.
 
Submitted the form. I'm in the discord as well. It's a long way off to know for sure what I'll be doing but I like the idea and I'll likely want to take at least one of my accounts out if I have the time.
 
Yeah, I just went ahead and filled it up to. I should be able to make it back with plenty of time to spare.


Yeah, there should definitely be plenty of time for any currently ongoing expeditions (except maybe that full circumnavigation one due to its sheer scale) to wrap up, since we have scheduled in mind with waiting for Stellar Unknown to start, complete, and people to get back to the bubble before we begin.
 
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