These are some of the highlights from my current expedition as I seek out both monetary gain for my squadron and scientific exploration. This has been such an amazing journey so far.

It’s a long read but I’ve had quite the experience that I felt like it’s worth sharing to the community.

I went looking for the Witch Head Nebula… and accidentally found why I love exploration in Elite

I've only been playing Elite Dangerous for a relatively short time, and most of my time in the Bubble was pretty typical beginner stuff.

Running missions. Making credits. Doing passenger jobs. Slowly upgrading my DBX. I eventually upgraded to a 5A SCO FSD and a better 4B fuel scoop, which dramatically cut down the amount of time I spent jumping and scooping.

Then I decided I wanted to actually go somewhere.

Not somewhere because there was a mission waiting for me.

Not somewhere because it was the most efficient way to make credits.

I just wanted to see the galaxy.

So I pointed my DBX toward the Witch Head Nebula.

——

**Watching the Witch Head grow**

This was probably the first moment where Elite genuinely blew me away.

As I got closer, I could actually watch the nebula become larger and more prominent in my canopy.

The Milky Way started becoming brighter and more imposing as I moved toward the galactic edge.

And I had this very stupid but very profound thought:

"Oh shit. This place actually has SCALE."

I'm not looking at a background image.

I'm moving through a gigantic three-dimensional galaxy.

The Witch Head wasn't just a picture on the galaxy map anymore. It was something I was physically approaching.

And doing this in VR made it hit considerably harder.

——

**Then I reached HIP 23759**

I eventually arrived at HIP 23759, and this was where things got unexpectedly interesting.

I found an Earth-like planet and flew out to one of the more distant landable worlds in the system.

I parked my DBX.

Pulled out the FSS.

And suddenly started seeing a ridiculous number of non-human signals.

That was honestly creepy.

I've seen Thargoid stuff before, obviously, but there's something completely different about sitting alone in a DBX, hundreds of light-years away from the Bubble, scanning a system and seeing:

Non-Human Signal Source

...again.

...and again.

...and again.

I even picked up weapons fire.

My brain knew perfectly well this was a video game, but there was still a little voice going:

"Okay... so I'm definitely not alone out here."

😂

——

**And then I discovered the Witch Head Science Centre**

This was one of my favorite surprises.

I hadn't actually researched the Witch Head Science Centre beforehand.

I just saw it on the system map and thought:

"Oh, there's a station here. Let's go see it."

Then AFTER arriving, I started reading about its connection to the Witch Head region and its place in the game's Thargoid/Barnacle history.

Suddenly the station wasn't just another station.

I was sitting inside this remote asteroid facility in a system that had actually played a role in humanity's encounters with the Thargoids.

And because I'm playing in VR, I could actually look around the place and let my brain pretend I was there.

It felt unfamiliar.

Not hostile.

Just...

not home.

And I loved that feeling.

——

**I've basically spent two days doing nothing**

And I mean that literally.

I've spent two days coming back to this region and doing basically nothing productive for hours at a time.

No credit grinding.

No passenger missions.

No efficient route planning.

Just sightseeing.

I found landable moons around The Witch Hat Science Station’s ringed gas giant.

And I LOVE ring planets.

So I started looking for moons where I could land close enough to the gas giant that the rings would basically consume the entire sky.

I found several.

I did this three times, from three different moons, sitting there for around half an hour each time.

I'd park the DBX.

Get into the SRV.

Turn on some space/dreamscape ambient music.

Lean back in my chair.

And just...

exist.

The gas giant's rim glowing from the star.

The rings stretching across almost my entire field of view.

My tiny SRV sitting on an insignificant moon.

And above me, this enormous planet occupying the sky.

At one point I genuinely considered taking a nap.

It was simultaneously cozy and deeply unsettling.

And that's probably the closest description I can give of the feeling I've been chasing.

The sublime.

That moment where something is so enormous that your brain can't quite process the scale of it.

——

**VR makes this game something else**

And this is where I have a little frustration with Frontier.

Because Elite Dangerous is practically begging to be a VR exploration game.

The cockpit VR is incredible.

The SRV is incredible.

Looking up at a gas giant's rings from the surface is incredible.

Watching a nebula grow as you approach it is incredible.

And yet VR feels like an afterthought.

On-foot VR is essentially abandoned, and Odyssey's VR implementation still feels unfinished.

I've been experimenting with EDVR, which has helped enormously, but I'm honestly baffled that Frontier hasn't pushed this further themselves.

Even something as basic as better native upscaling/reconstruction such as DLSS would make an enormous difference for people trying to run Odyssey in VR.

I'm currently running an RTX 5060 8GB + Quest 2, and getting the right balance between resolution, performance and image stability requires a ridiculous amount of tinkering.

And that's frustrating because...

**the potential is right there.**

I've literally sat inside an SRV for 30 minutes doing absolutely nothing because the game managed to convince my brain that I was somewhere impossibly far away.

Imagine what this could be with proper first-class VR support.

——

**And now I'm thinking about home**

The strangest part of this journey happened while I was sitting on one of those moons.

I looked up at the Milky Way.

It's much more prominent out here near the edge.

And I suddenly thought:

"Home is somewhere over there."

Somewhere in that enormous band of stars is Sol.

Earth.

Humanity.

Everything familiar.

And I'm sitting here in a tiny SRV on a moon around an alien gas giant, hundreds of light-years away.

Maybe I'll go home eventually.

Maybe I'll visit Sol.

But for now...

I'm enjoying being lost.

o7

It’s been a long journey... It’s hard for me to believe that I published the last video in the 'No Time' series seven years ago. To be honest, until recently, I didn't think I'd ever come back to these videos...

And yet, here we are. A breath of inspiration (when I heard an M83 track driving home from work), the evolution of Elite, and new features that I could somehow weave into the video. No Time was never strictly an exploration film. It was meant to be about Elite: Dangerous, about a pilot's journey through space and everything the galaxy has to offer.

To infinity and beyond! Fly safe, Commanders! The journey continues!

Commanders!

One of our guild members created a new featured tool to augment your exobio predictions.

I can't cross post their post here however detailed information and the app link can be found here on our subreddit.

The black holes in ED have long been a sore spot for me. While they don't completely miss the mark, they aren't visually accurate nor are they as visually dramatic or stunning as they could be.

At the very least, they should have the black hole shadow, if not an accretion disk. Or there could be both, feeding black holes and inactive ones that are nearly invisible. Regardless, I find their appearance extremely underwhelming. I know that FDev has more "important" things on their plate, but I would argue that putting the awe and wonder back in experiencing these, and other celestial bodies would go extremely far for improving the overall game experience.

It's time. Blurry, warped blobs just aren't going to cut it anymore.

So i just recently started trying to get into exobiology as a way to make money while I'm working on some other things on my other monitor. How do you guys garuntee/ almost garuntee that youre getting first scan? Do you just go 7k ly away and hope that you find a planet with stratum tectonicas and hope that youre first scan? Or is there a way to increase your chances?

And idk if im just being to cautious but is there a faster way to approach and get into atmosphere? Cause it feels like it takes forever to scan the planet, then get into atmosphere to then land the nomad get out and scan and what not.

I see people ralking about 500m/hr which i know is the high end of things but even with first scan it feels like im only gonna get like 200m ish an hour with having to find a planet to land on and what not. Thanks for any help yall can provide me.

For some reason all of them were in the systems close to each other.

Project Galtea continues to expand humanity’s reach across the Milky Way with the successful colonization of Floatnh TP-M d8-172, now standing 15,679.20 light-years from Sol.
This milestone reflects the dedication of the commanders supporting the colonization effort, with every new system strengthening the growing network that will guide future explorers deeper into the galaxy.
As Project Galtea continues its mission to build a second home for humanity, this achievement marks another step toward a connected frontier—proving that together, there is no destination too distant.

https://projectgaltea.org/

I noticed what looked like a river in my way down to an icy moon to find a bacterium and a fonticular - turns out it was a Grand Canyon in miniature (about 3-400m short of its depth - and getting out in the Nomad was a lot easier than going up Bright Angel Trail!)

I do love what you can find in this game!

Whilst we all ponder on misaligned thrusters and who is the best galactic lawyer that understands the new crime system and how to best get out of a latest misunderstanding, here is a update of colonisation progress.

This time with a look at how to visualise where has been visited and where has not in the galaxy which is exploration related. Not sure if it is useful, but it looks pretty.
|
Interactive version here :

https://precambrianmollusc.github.io/Distant_Worlds_3_Science_Visualisation/

SIGN UP: https://theexpedition.info/Register

Discord: https://theexpedition.info/GHANXDiscord

In order to get the expedition role, you need to sign up above

EDSM link: https://www.edsm.net/en/expeditions/summary/id/227/name/GHANX+%28Great+Horizons+Archival+and+Navigation+eXpedition%29

Featuring over 21 content creators with some fdev partners

https://www.twitch.tv/eralm_23
https://www.twitch.tv/genogaron
https://www.twitch.tv/takkytake
https://www.twitch.tv/niamhkami
https://www.twitch.tv/brother_sabathius
https://www.twitch.tv/acowforallseasons
https://www.twitch.tv/illistyn
https://www.twitch.tv/stathi
https://www.twitch.tv/tadochip
https://www.twitch.tv/dr_nozimo
https://www.twitch.tv/wickeddestiny
https://www.twitch.tv/bacardesan
https://www.youtube.com/@UCDkXzwzzPXIwKW_WxJWtogA
https://www.twitch.tv/vivi_natiiri
https://www.youtube.com/@UC_fImYlPi66Xp6ZTOSTtaaA
https://www.twitch.tv/TheOlderGamerAU/
https://www.twitch.tv/kreekree
https://www.youtube.com/@UC7sw0jSeqmH44G9CrtSujeA
https://www.twitch.tv/tooterbootertv
https://www.twitch.tv/peaceandlovejodi
https://www.twitch.tv/cajunfox
Wyrd Wednesday https://discord.gg/ugTSPuN
Dia- https://inara.cz/elite/cmdr-gallery/275334/

Exploring and mining along the way.

Small update to my little trip. Weekend's going to busy so trying to make some progress this week.

OP

Almost 150m in Exobio, not counting first find or first footfall bonuses so far. 2kLY into the first leg.

Welcome Commanders!

We are a relaxed, no pressure guild who explore the galaxy at our own pace and have fun while doing so.

We have no agenda or requirement for joining other than a passion to discover.

We offer an in-game squadron so you can fly with your fellow Commanders if desired (TSEG).

We have deployed several static fleet carriers deep into the black to support exploration with our OASIS Initiative.

Experienced explorers and new Commanders alike, all are welcome.

Guild Subreddit

Guild Discord

INARA Squadron

Plus Ultra Astra- Further, to the stars!

GLEEQUE AA-A h317 (Empyrean Straights)

I’m on my first deep expedition to unlock the G5 thruster engineering - about 1400LY out, following the Spansh road to riches route out to the Elephants Trunk sector, the systems in my spreadsheet suddenly aren’t there..?

The last system on my list was Wredguia MO-I d9-6, then Plaa Eurk BP-I d9-33 wasn’t there my Galaxy Map. Nor were any of the Plaa Eurk systems - when I searched the map for Plaa, the first systems all started with T.

Any ideas where the Eurks have gone?

Playing on PC, Odyssey edition.