Ways out of the near star map

[Anders]

Just a quick note that might be helpful to some of us, especially if we want to add extra colonies.

Here is a list of non-tug reachable systems are close enough the "escape" the Near Star Map (and hence form likely continuations of the arms)

I'm leaving out Kafer space where many stars likely can go further. Clearly at least the Promising One finger towards DM+16 2658 and DM+24 2733AB could be open if one is adventurous and thinks the Kafers will be down forever. Ylii space is likely closed since they would otherwise have tried to escape. The Back Door route (which still requires a tug) leads to a finger with Da've'I Na'ah/DK +17 4521, DM-6 4663 A, DM-6 4663 B, DM-1 3474, L1064 75, L1113 55 and AC+3 2528-176. This is very likely to go outwards too.

In the Aquila cluster DM+25 3719, DM+7 4052, Delta Aquila, Beta Aquila, AC+13 1185-145 and DM+2 4076 are close enough to the border so that they could have further links. Which means the Aquilans could be further out.

The Wolf Cluster has DM+10 2531 (Freiland) close to the border, as well as the "claw" of DM+16 2404, AC+10 95-26, DM+9 2636 and at the end of the "tail" Ross 845 and Wolf 534.

On the French Arm proper, DM+42 2296 AB and DM+34 2323 also have a chance, as do DM+55 1519 and AC+13 14332.

At the opening towards Pentapod space Denebola is a clear candidate. In Pentapod space we have lots of options: DM+41 2147, DM+46 1635, DM+46 1551, DM+48 1829, DM+43 1953, DM+36 1970, G 195-19, Iota Ursae majoris, DM+42 1956. The Pentapods could go very far.

I have not looked at the 61 cygni cluster, but it seems to go all the way to the border too. I seem to recall that the Eber cluster around zeta reticuli didn't, though.

Statistically, on the NSM, no systems have no links. The most common number of links is 2 and the median number of links is 4. Most systems have between 2 and 6 links, but a few go up to over ten. So the probability that these "openings" lead further is pretty good. I'll run them past the HYG later catalogue to see if I can do some educated guesses where they lead.

Depending on whether one views more worlds as more power and wealth, or more alien risk and cost, this has strategic implications. The French arm can be extended much further with little effort - and anything could be out there. The Manchurian Arm is closed: if Manchuria wants to quietly develop its worlds it can do so safely, knowing that all aliens are accounted for. On the other hand, if expansion is good, then they have to open the 61 Cygni cluster. The Americans are almost in the same situation, but have a potentially dangerous frontier in Aquila and a tricky but potentially very rewarding foothold in Ylii space.

 

[ben51]

Very cool Anders, thank you!

I always thought it would be cool if human space encountered a "Federation" type alien culture just off the NSM at the end of one of the Arms. Composed of several allied alien races, with the dominate ones being famailiar enough to humans to communicate with, they would occupy a sphere of stars about the size of all of human space. With a slightly higher level of technology but a less war like nature they could prove valuble allies or a powerful foe. Especially if they see humans as barbaric, factionalized and violent. Kind of "Star Trek" from a different perspective.

Benjamin

 

[Anders]

In an attack of energy, I ran my previous code with the HYG database to see where the arms might lead. This should of course be taken with a grain of salt, since HYG locations are not necessarily compatible with the dear old near star map. The result is interesting in any case: http://www.aleph.se/2320AD/escapensm.pdf
(traditional projection)
http://www.aleph.se/2320AD/escapetubemap.pdf
("tube map" topology, new systems green)
http://www.aleph.se/2320AD/escape.csv
CSV file with data for the new stars.

The Aquila Cluster ends; it doesn't go much further (in fact, on my map I get only one new star). Similarly the Back Door route also doesn't extend far.

Kaferspace on the other hand has plenty of fingers and arms. A big one leads out towards epsilon scorpi from DM-21 4352. Another big one starts at Chien 112, and the Promising One finger does indeed extend. The Kafers seem to be sitting on a crossroad outwards. The Ylii have a tiny finger from DK+32 2390.

Pentapod space is also big, but didn't extend in the direction I thought. The key system is Iota Ursae Majoris, and beyond there a long arm with lots of systems extend outwards.

Then there is the French arm. DM+42 2296 AB turns out to lead to a major extension with about 34 systems. Vogelheim and Berthier represent the frontier towards this new arm. Meanwhile the Wolf Cluster looks as a dead end.

The Vogelheim arm has a connection via 70 Virginis and GJ 1168 to the big Chien 112 Kafer extension. We should be happy Kafers are not big on deep exploration.

The 61 Cygni cluster fails to extend. :-(

This extension is still limited. Since the data gets sparser as we move out, eventually the arms stop because we do not know where the red dwarves are.

Also, the overlap between the maps is problematic; I found that if I allowed HYG stars between 45-50 ly the extension became much richer - a big Aquila cluster/arm, a new finger from DM+34 2323 that eventually leads to the "Kafer forest" - a big contiguous web stretching outside the French arm and Kafer space (but unconnected to Pentapod space). The Wolf cluster extends via DM+9 2636 to a "Denebola arm".

I wouldn't trust the data entirely (I have not checked that the HYG stars do not already exist in the NSM), but I think I have decided that this or some updated version will be "canon" in my setting anyway (until I find better databases). Plenty of space for federations, new colonies and strange new lifeforms out there.

 

[ben51]

Again...very, very nice. I especially like the idea of round-about link from the French Arm to Kafer space. Now place a third alien race somewhere along that route and presto...Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting. Those det.-lasers were fast as lightening!

Benjamin

 

[Anders]

I checked whether my maps worked if I removed all stars from the HYG database that I know are on the near star map. It still worked fine. There was a slight problem with the Vogelheim arm; but if one allows a 5 ly overlap between the maps it now changes direction and seems to link to Pentapod space instead.

I'm really intrigued by the Vogelheim/Bessieres corridor. It both makes Bessieres a bit more sensible (it is a waystation for past ESA expeditions in this direction) and makes newly independent Vogelheim more important and precarious.

 

[kmsoice]

Anders, the work you do for this community is amazing. This map of yours is not just cool it is very, very important. Knowing things like that the Manchurian arm is closed really changes things ... and fits with the isolationist Manchus. Please, please, please finish off the escapetubemap.pdf to the standards that you did for the other maps you have posted with the distances between the stars and the colony names&national flags.

 

[Anders]

I'll gladly do it - it feels good to be useful.

 

[BMonnery]

No we need to expand the map, it still isn't fully explored as of 2300?

 

[kmsoice]

No we need to expand the map, it still isn't fully explored as of 2300?

Not quite sure I understand what you are trying to say here. Did you mean to type 'Now' instead of 'No'? Are you asking about how the 2300AD in box map covers all of the stars out to 50ly but the map Anders gave only covers those that are connected back to Sol? That is a good point, I suppose while we are taking advantage of Anders' generosity we could ask him to include the all the stars&their connections out to ??as far as his patience will allow??. For these islands of unconnected stars just give a dashed line&distance back to the nearest connected star. ...then we can all spend countless hours fantasizing about using brown dwarfs/tugs/Eber drives getting to these new islands and what they may contain.

 

[Anders]

That is a good point, I suppose while we are taking advantage of Anders' generosity we could ask him to include the all the stars&their connections out to ??

A good thing I took a nap before starting on the map, so I could see this. It makes perfect sense.

The 7.7 ly limit is close to the percolation transition of the map, where clusters of all sizes coexist. A bit more and it is mostly the giant component, a bit less and it is all disconnected small clusters. This way we can get lost of lost Eber colonies, isolated aliens and secret Trilon bases. As well as the epic struggle over who controls the Kafer nexus.

The main problem right now is that the density of stars is declining beyond 50 ly even in the Gliese 3 catalogue - many of the new places will actually be connected and larger, but by red dwarves we in reality haven't discovered.

 

[BMonnery]

As of 2300, the existing NSL isn't explored, which is why I always found attempts to expand it slightly odd (mainly the non-canon BAC).

The problem seemed to be getting back from the next, unexplored star. You needed a discharge point, which had to be a reasonably substancial planet. While the physics is never explained, it's clear that keeping a stutterwarp "charged" too long is dangerous, and it will eventually go critical (depending on how good your engineer is).

The time limit combined with the "meter" nature of the grav scanner (it simply gives a reading of gravitational intensity) means a ship warping blind into an explored system is hoping against hope to find a discharge point before drive collapse. This means that robot probes and telescopes are likely to be a major feature of pioneering a system.

There are two potential ways around this for warping in blind:

1. Discharge at the star. Apparently only recently possible, and still incredibly dangerous.

2. Carry spare drives. Such as Bayern did.

 

[oletheros]

One of the interesting things that came out of the Ranger supplement was the idea that the pre-historic Ebers had stutterwarp technology that worked up to 9.4 lightyears. This creates a very different kind of map for Eber expansion, especially if we use Zeta 2 Reticuli as their "real" homeworld.

What I find most interesting about this (especially with regard to the topic at hand) is how the Ebers actually got to the Chinese Arm from their home cluster. There isn't a direct route from one to the other that I can see, even at 9.4 lightyears. However, if you take the short leap to the idea that the Ebers used some version of a stutterwarp tug to bridge the gap, it is possible to go from Zeta 2 Reticuli to DM - 68 47, which is right next to Beta Hydri.

Coincidentally, that distance is also short enough for a human stutterwarp tug to make the jump. It certainly makes me wonder what's actually happening in the Eber home cluster. Was the war of 4,000 years ago localized to Human Space? Is there a functioning Eber interstellar civilization still operating out there?

 

[Anders]

The problem seemed to be getting back from the next, unexplored star. You needed a discharge point, which had to be a reasonably substancial planet.

You can always use the star; I have not seen any mention of it being new (otherwise, how did people and Kafers pass Arcturus?). It is likely inconvenient and might strain union radiation exposure rules, but it is guaranteed to be there.

I think you are right about the stupidity of delaying discharge though; as Kevin Clark showed, it is not something people would normally do
http://www.geocities.com/pentapod2300/best/delay.htm

However, over the past 150 years there has been more than enough daredevils and the occasional rich person/organisation willing to risk a starship on a truly heroic journey for this to have been attempted a few times. Several attempts likely ended in disaster, but there have been a few triumphs too. Especially for the 61 Cygni cluster it is not inconceivable that the initial “head” has been visited a few times (especially since a few gas giants suitable for discharge outside the star stutterwarp limit may be known astronomically). Such exploration would not enable real colonisation or systematic exploration, but for planting flags, naming worlds and just seeing if there is anything amazingly interesting nearby it works.

 

[Anders]

OK, here is my preliminary "answer" to doing a more proper treatment of an expanded starmap, including tug-accessible clusters. Let the cans of worms be opened!

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/Escape.pdf
General overview, caveats and rough analysis.

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/escapeII.pdf
Nice map of systems reachable with 7.7 ly jumps.

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/escapeIIcluster.pdf
Topological map showing the natural groupings of stars.

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/escapeclustertogether.pdf
Map showing the extent of the clusters. Neat but practically useless.

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/escapeclusters.pdf
Topological map of the whole network. A veritable labyrinth, but good for figure out where to put the Zorgonian empire (or hide from the Aquilans)

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/Game/2300AD/Escape/escape.csv
Data file with the accessible stars derived from NSM and HYG.

To summarize, current data allows us to expand the range of the setting a few tens of lightyears. However, the real action still will occur within the volume of the NSM - beside 61 Cygni there are several very interesting clusters and the extended arms loop back in random ways. It looks like the three ways out into the galaxy are either via the Kafers, the Pentapods or Aquila space.

Related to the above Eber question, there seems to be not just the Zeta Reticuli cluster and the Eber finger of the Chinese Arm but also the DM-47 13928 Cluster that could have been visited and colonized.

This expansion suffers from serious problems with data quality: many of the coordinates will change when astronomers get better data. I'm angry at NASA for shelving FAME in 2002; now we have to hope ESA launches the Gaia Mission on schedule in 2011 so we can get better maps. "Dear Director General, the science fiction roleplaying community wishes to state its support for further funding for the mission. We feel that the European Space Policy should be extended to take into account the important entertainment uses of astrometric data..." ;-)

 

[epicenter00]

"...We feel that the European Space Policy should be extended to take into account the important entertainment uses of astrometric data..." ;-)

Don't forget to add, "This group naturally consists of a few hundred very opinionated people, perhaps a thousand at most. A million Euros per fan would be considered an adequate research fund by us."

 

[kmsoice]

Topological map of the whole network. A veritable labyrinth, but good for figure out where to put the Zorgonian empire (or hide from the Aquilans)

Bwwahaha! Let the grand exploration commence!

 

[Anders]

From a 2320AD perspective it seems that the 61 Cygni cluster is ripe for exploration. As I said before, I would expect the 61 Cygni system to have been visited by daredevils already. Likely they did not find any earthlike world (then the push would have been stronger), but building an outpost there would make strategic sense. There are quite a few promising systems in the cluster, but I guess the challenge is keeping exploration expeditions supplied.

The AC+23 468-46 cluster looks like an ideal target for Trilon. If they set up a tug outpost there, they can reach all of the upper French Arm as well as Neubayern (imagine the military value of that), and send expedition deep inwards to the orange stars. It might take a long while to explore if only Trilon does it, but it would be theirs.

The Iota Pegasi and Mu Arae clusters look like they might be worth investigating for Manchuria - big and fairly close to the start of the arm. The DM-47 13928 cluster is a bit more like a Pandora's box: if it is true that the US expedition to the Eber cluster found something nasty, there might be something nasty in the other cluster too. Even a surviving advanced Eber civilisation might not be exactly what Manchuria wants to deal with. Simularly the cluster reachable from Stark (not visible on my maps, unfortunately) is not in Manchurian interest - better to have Sung build colonies with humans for a long while.

The US likely wants to improve its grip on Backdoor space, especially the cruicial DM+3 3465 system. Beyond it lies a vast range of unknown stars, linked to both Kafer space and Aquila space. The backdoor route is quite vulnerable to the unknown.

Meanwhile the French Arm does not need many tug-clusters, there are so many frontiers to deal with. The deep Wolf Cluster could be a dangerous meeting point with Kafers, and the Denebola frontier is totally unknown.

Overall, it seems that there is a need to rethink how to supply long-range surveying expeditions. Something like the Vogelperspective that can maneuver on its own for a long while, and maybe fleets of unmanned probes for neighbouring systems?

 

[BMonnery]

Solar discharge was specifically ruled out for a long period. This is why humanity didn't probe beyond Arcturus, Arcturus is about just about close enough for a ship from Aurore to reach it and go back and discharge at Aurore.

ISTR it was stated in one supplement that LaFarge screens capable of screening ships for stellar discharge were very recent developments (late 2290's) for humanity. As for what that means, I assume LaFarge screens are military screens (civilian ships having a weak scr-0 setup, this fits the advance to NM screens). This would mean that stellar discharge is a trick reserved for heavily screened warships (including Kafer warships).

Starships are horribly expensive. Filtering fiat money out, we can take a stab that 1MLv = ca 60 million 2008 US dollars. That cheapo Kiev class is nearly as much as a Nimitz class carrier to build, her missile load is frighteningly expensive (if using SC or AoM* each missile is about 18m USD today, if building as a NAM object** it's about 151m USD). Risking one is not something done lightly.

*http://www.geocities.com/Area51/9292/2300/AOM.htm
** http://www.geocities.com/Area51/9292/2300/Missiles.htm

 

[Anders]

Solar discharge was specifically ruled out for a long period. This is why humanity didn't probe beyond Arcturus, Arcturus is about just about close enough for a ship from Aurore to reach it and go back and discharge at Aurore.

Hmm, it is a 4.5 ly trip. If you cannot discharge at Arcturus you must delay stutterwarp discharge to survive the Aurore trip.

I prefer the explanation that it takes good screens. This way planetless systems are still a problem, yet a surmountable one.

That risking ships is not done lightly does not mean it is never done (and human stupidity occasionally overshoots all bounds, especially when one imagines potential rewards). Even if only one attempt was done every 50 years, the probability of someone having visited the 61 Cygni cluster briefly since the start of the interstellar era is pretty high.

 

[G. Fieendish]

One of the interesting things that came out of the Ranger supplement was the idea that the pre-historic Ebers had stutterwarp technology that worked up to 9.4 lightyears. This creates a very different kind of map for Eber expansion, especially if we use Zeta 2 Reticuli as their "real" homeworld.

What I find most interesting about this (especially with regard to the topic at hand) is how the Ebers actually got to the Chinese Arm from their home cluster. There isn't a direct route from one to the other that I can see, even at 9.4 lightyears. However, if you take the short leap to the idea that the Ebers used some version of a stutterwarp tug to bridge the gap, it is possible to go from Zeta 2 Reticuli to DM - 68 47, which is right next to Beta Hydri.

Coincidentally, that distance is also short enough for a human stutterwarp tug to make the jump. It certainly makes me wonder what's actually happening in the Eber home cluster. Was the war of 4,000 years ago localized to Human Space? Is there a functioning Eber interstellar civilization still operating out there?

Intresting...
Has someone tried to "reverse-engineer" a Eber Stutterwarp drive, or are there not enough remnants to do so....?
Certainly, if a 9.3 Lightyear Stutterwarp drive is possible, what research is going on the subject...?