"God doesn't build in straight lines..."

An interesting quote from a film by Ridley Scott called Prometheus. This was went through my mind when I discovered the body shown below. In fact straight lines can be observed in nature, so the quote is a little misleading, but perhaps made an impact in the film; which I have enjoyed watching a few times now.

Very interesting lines and formations on this body.

Note that one of the volcanic (I assume) regions is almost the centre of a hexagon. This does make you wonder if this planet has been terra-formed or being used by Thargoids, which is a insect like race according to the Elite Novels. Sadly, this body had an atmosphere, so landing on it was not possible, but when this becomes available, this body is one that I will definitely come back to and make a landing.

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Holiday

It was a kind of a holiday, about 7 days away up north from where I live. I was hoping to have done a little sea fishing off a sea wall, but the disabled access was so poor, you had to walk miles to get anywhere decent, and sadly for me, that simply isn't possible, I spent most of my time sitting in the car reading, catching up on some the Elite books on my Kindle. The stories were excellent, and the one about the Lave Revolution was well put together; a book that I simply couldn't put down.

The list of books that I read over this short time away were:

• Lave Revolution
• Out of the Darkness
• Reclamation
• And here the Wheel

I still have yet to finish "And here the Wheel", but so far it has been a good read. There are other books for Elite Dangerous, but I wanted to catch up on the lore and see if I could make any sense to the mystery of the Formadine Rift. So far the solution, like many others, has eluded me.

Once I returned I decided I had to make some decisions. With Engineers coming out soon, space will become more dangerous and it would be prudent to take advantage of the new enhanced shields, weapons and jump drives, with a view to a return to exploration. To this end, and having a real interest in the area known as the Formadine Rift, I have decided to turn back on myself in a large loop and travel through the rift area whilst heading, in a roundabout way, back to the bubble.

Stats and Images

The week away has meant that the number of jumps and distance travelled is much reduced. I felt it better to update the blog, rather than wait another couple of weeks. It is now day 99 if you count in the days away.

Description	Values
Distance covered	3850.5 Ly
Number of jumps	139
Systems surveyed	75
Systems undiscovered	138

I haven't taken as many pictures as previous sessions. Mainly because they all seem so similar and familiar now, so finding bodies that really stand out is becoming increasingly difficult. Having said that, the textures of the following Gas Giants are quite colourful, and the storm systems on some of these are more intense.

A moon with a view

Ammonia Gas Giant with a few Ice Rings - soon to be good to mine.

Gorgeous colour palette

There is something about these blue gas giants that appeals to me.

Ragged Storms here.

The galaxy showing through the rings is a lovely effect.

More wonderful blues.

Really large storms brewing, and massive cloud systems

Planetary Bodies

I am slowly cataloguing all of the yellow bodies I have across, and will create a page showing them all in the near future. It seems that most of them have an atmosphere, complete with weather systems, but surprisingly they are all subtly different. I do wonder if the textures have been created procedurally.

These planets are the system's jewels.

First kind of body of this type with rings for me.

Another jewel in the system with a great lake of ?

A terra-formable water world with a heavy and dense cloudy atmosphere.

Despite being only 88 Ls from a sun, this body is very dark and foreboding.

Not all rings reflect the sun light like this. Quite astonishing.

More interesting ring patterns

Another one of those planets you wish you could land on.

One of the plainer bodies, but exudes beauty in its own form.

Well.... that completes this update. if you are a Rifter, then you may be interested in the following posts as I cross the rift looking for what everyone else is searching for. Will I find it? probably not, but I will have a good look around. Who know what I will stumble upon. It is a huge area of the galaxy.

This is not my own image. Created by one of the knowledgeable Rifters.

Watch this space!

And What a Wondrous Galaxy this is!

Day 60 and still going strong. I thought I would leave the update to the blog a few extra days, so that I could post some meaningful analysis on the trip so far. But for this last session the basics:

Description	Values
Distance covered	7263 Ly
Number of jumps	265
Systems surveyed	165
Systems undiscovered	265

So, much further this time and each system is pretty much undiscovered; which is kinda to be expected at this distance from SOL. When I started out I began to wonder if I had seen it all before and worried a little about what screen shots I could show that hadn't really been seen before. Needless to say, I need not have worried.

But first off, let me show you some of the analysis of the trip so far, which is one of the great things about using a spread sheet.

Description	Values
Total Distance covered	18,490.17 Ly
Total Number of jumps	673
Total Number of Star fields	16
Largest Star field	89 Jumps
Smallest Star field	7 Jumps
Total Scoop-able Suns	645
Total Un-Scoop-able Suns	29

For some analysis on suns, by which I mean the sun you first land at after a jump, here are a few types with their counts. Not all sun classes are listed but these are the ones with the major counts.

Major Sun Class	Count
M	421
K	125
F	41
G	37
A	20
L	8

Total Systems with	Count
1 Sun	63
2 Suns	69
3 Suns	27
4 Suns	11
5 Suns	1

Even after a very minuscule sampling of the galaxy, we can begin to build a picture of the galaxy's content and make up. I can also add to this by the following:

1.04% of systems have so far contained Earth Like Worlds.
15.01% of systems have so far contained Terraform-able Worlds.

You must remember though that my trip has pretty much been a straight path, (well as straight as the map allows) from my starting point to where I am at the current system. So the sampling could be said to be random, as no star field has been surveyed using a regular method. This is why the analysis so far should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is just some interesting facts gleaned from my spread sheet of my trip so far.

When finding a system which say has a sun with some bodies 200k Ls from the major sun that I want to survey, I will set the general direction, and then play with the spread sheet. So going all that distance, is not really so much of a waste of time, but when you find a couple of Terraform-able worlds surrounding that distant sun, the wait and effort is well worth it.

Class III Gas Giant

This amazing gas giant, shown above, was a basic gas giant according to the description. Helium/Hydrogen atmosphere, a surface temperature of 715K, and a radius of 71,090Km or 2,487 earth masses. The sun that it was orbiting was a bright class F and the gas giant was only 1,794 Ls away from it. So should this giant have been displayed as blue, or the colours that you see? I love these colours and this is perhaps the best gas giant I have ever come across.

The image below is a part of a High Resolution shot zoomed in so that the storm can just about be picked out. Again, some interesting colours inside there, which makes you wonder how bad the storm is, with white and red colours.

Zooming into a one of the storms

Below is another gas giant, of which I would call "normal", if there is a normal out there! The sunrise does highlight the atmosphere rather nicely, and makes a great screen shot.

Sunrise over a gas giant while being backlit from another sun.

Total eclipse showing the atmosphere and almost the sun through the centre of this gas giant.

Another wonderful gas giant with interestingly spaced rings.

Nothing but pristine rocky rings here. Nice to see rocks instead of ice.

Yet another gas giant with some beautiful storm systems.

There are some amazing gas giants out there. Not all are similar, (although many of them are), and sometimes you can find some real gems. If a system contains any gas giants at all, I will always stop by and have a look. One must never forget that a Class II Gas Giant will give you a little more cash than the other ones.

3 different kind of suns in close proximity. From left to right: L Dwarf, M , T Dwarf

Onto the bodies now, either moons or just bodies orbiting a sun.

I may have posted similar in the past, but these are the real gems in the galaxy.

An unusual shot from me, as this one is a selfie!

Another body with an interesting colour scheme.

Not quite earth like, but one which really does need landing on in the future.

A water world, but does have what appears to be land masses, or could they be plumes of bacteria?

Is this right? The ice pack surely would melt if constantly facing the sun?

Another water world, but with a very thick atmosphere.

Impressive mountain ranges

Another impressive mountain range on a small greenish body.

It is great to see such detail when 2 bodies are so close to each other, and then so different!

Very distinct cratering - many of them quite deep.

Great weather system, including 2 storms on this high metallic content world.

And finally... How do you scoop? It would appear that the Asp has the scooping ports on the top of the ship, not the bottom. I usually scoop with the bottom of my ship facing the sun, so is that wrong? I wonder if I could get a better scoop rate if I flew upside down. Well there is food for thought...

Fuel scooping - after each and every jump!

Come hither to and wander our glorious Galaxy.

It is day 45, and over this last session, I have travelled quite a distance, having spent more time in the game than usual. I have "touched", or been through 7 star fields getting back onto my original track along the galactic spiral arm. I seem to be making a lot of progress now, and still enjoying the trip immensely. The systems that had previously been discovered, were in the Crescent Nebula, although I am wondering if I will now come across a system with a Cmdr's name on it.

Description	Values
Distance covered	4062.3 Ly
Number of jumps	148
Systems surveyed	100
Systems undiscovered	145

I suppose one could say that I have reached a mini milestone. I have now jumped over 10k Ly. It may not sound much, especially when you consider it alongside of the great explorers out there, but for me, it feels great!

One of the great things about using a spread sheet, is the fact that with a little bit of programming, it is easy to start generating some interesting facts about this exploration trip. The table below shows a summary for the trip so far.

Description	Values
Distance covered	11,226.4 Ly
Number of jumps	407
Total Star Fields	10
Largest Star Field	65 Jumps
Shortest Star Field	7 Jumps
Total Scoop-able Suns	382
Total UN-Scoop-able Suns	25

This part of the journey has been much faster as I have skipped surveying on the systems that just have a sun and a few icy bodies, especially when these bodies are really spread out. It simply is not worth the time to jaunt all over the system and waiting for each body to scan for 500 credits per body. I have however been scanning the major sun after scooping as I am usually no more than a few hundred Ls away and they scan pretty fast.

I have made a good observation on myself. When taking the pain killers called Tramadol, (which I have mentioned in a previous post), the side effects really do come into play. I have noticed my hand-eye coordination reduced considerably, and often, I have nearly crashed into a planet on the approach for scanning. It is true what they say, don't drive when taking these tablets. Lesson learnt!

Atmospherics

It is now becoming a job to find some really worth while pictures to post, as many planets look quite similar, however there are some exceptions and still some jewels. I have noticed that in the systems I have visited, where the planets have an atmosphere, this atmosphere appears much thicker. Case in point, are these shots below:

Water World	High Metallic World
Water World	Water World
High Metallic World with an Ice Pack	High Metallic World

The atmospheres on the water worlds were both oxygen and carbon dioxide and were candidates for transformation. Which I find strange if there were no land masses. Perhaps the terraforming process allows land mass creation too. Who knows what is possible in Elite Dangerous timeline!

Galactic Jewels

I think I perhaps spend more time trying to get into a good position to take these images. They make look boring, but I find these really interesting and try to take reference shots where I can. It seems that often, a pair of bodies that are very close to each other, that would make a superb picture, are simply not worth spending time on, as either one eclipses the other or there simply isn't enough light to make them look great. Perhaps I am too fussy, but there you go,

As mentioned above there are still many jewels to be found. I am still in awe at some of these amazing planet textures.

Such vivid colours for this twinned body. Note the great constellation in the distance.

Volcanic regions showing up quite well. It was a pity that this rock had an atmosphere or I would have landed and checked them out.

The Great Lakes - or should that be landlocked oceans!

Spotty Dick - or if you are into cheese, "Mayfield".

There are quite a few yellow bodies like this, but the first so far with obvious lakes.

The Planet of Gold. Simply stunning!

A Class Y Dwarf  with a massive ring system.

Saved for a desktop picture.

Well.... I hope you have enjoyed these images and this post in my blog. I haven't really said that much, as I would prefer to let the images do the talking. If you have read down to here, thank you. But most of all, thank you too all of my visitors across the world. I didn't realise that Elite Dangerous had such a wide audience. There are still many aspects of this game that leave me speechless.

Those of you that have visited before, you may notice that there is now an animation on the side bar. If you find that this slows done the loading of the page considerably, or notice any other strange anomalies, please let me know via a comment, Twitter, or in the forums,

Cheers!