Star

This page is a Work in Progress as much of the lore/Development for the game is yet to be established.

The star Sol, the central point in the Sol System

A star is any massive gravitational self-luminous celestial body of gas that shines by radiation derived from its internal energy sources. Stars are predominantly the principal object found at the centre of Star Systems, where other astronomical bodies orbit them.

Gameplay

Stars are usually located at the centre of star systems as the main gravitational body, around which other astronomical bodies will orbit them. Stars keep theses systems together through gravity and other astrophysical concepts like the Roche Limit. Stars will have three zones within their area: the Lava Zone, the Habitable Zone and the Frost Line. These dictate generation of planets and other astronomical bodies within their system, specifically what types of these appear within certain distances.

Many stars will generate lightyears away from each other but can be observed from other systems. Without the usage of faster-than-light systems such as the Alcubierre Drive, travel between them would usually take many years ranging from several to entire centuries.

Generation

A number of stars observed from another star system

Main page: Galaxy Generation

Stars populate the Milky Way and outer space in-game within a cubic area of 1 lightyear. Stars within 2000 ly of the Sol System are generated using the Real Stars DB, a SQL database created from the European Space Agency's Gaia Catalogue. Outside this area, stars generate on a seed system with varying characteristics and locations from a randomly generated seed. Some new star systems may generate within the area of the Real Stars database.

In future versions a star system designer tool is planned allowing game backers to create their own star systems, which will persist permanently in the in-game galaxy. Plans also feature set systems created by backers of Captain Tier or above that will feature in the game world.

Star Types

Main page: Star types

An array of star types can be found in the galaxy. They are categorised by their class, size and how hot they are within their temperature range. A large amount of information can be viewed and sorted on the Sensors Station. Stars are sorted using real-world stellar Classification.

Stars in their main life cycle are sorted from hottest to coldest. The sequence is O-Type, B-Type, A-Type, F-Type, G-Type, K-Type and M-Type. Some stars will generate as Brown Dwarfs, which are yet to ignite. Their sequence is L-Type, T-Type and Y-Type. In future, player vessels will be able to discover stellar remnants in the galaxy in place of star systems, including White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes. They will also be able to find T-Tauri stars (those in their early stages of formation) and Wolf-Rayet stars (those which are towards the end of their life cycles).

Sensors Data

Stars can currently undergo multiple sensor surveys within their vicinity. The XNAV Array will passively gather data on the star, including its star type, orbital characteristics, stellar temperature regions and physical characteristics. From long range surveys, the sensors will gather more information such as Spectral Analysis and Photosphere data. Whilst medium and short range surveys can be performed on stars, neither will yield any data on it. However, scanning a star in both is required to attain 100% survey data on its star system.

The following table presents the sensor data for stars and the sensors level/array used to gather it from them:

Survey Level	Range	Array	Data Gathered
0	Default Overview	SCMI Array	Overview A brief description of the star. These will be updated as higher level surveys are performed on it. Orbital Characteristics Roche Limit Scattered Disk Start Scattered Disk End Tibal Truncation Limit Hill Radius Stellar Temperature Regions Dust Sublimination Lava Line Habitable Zone Start Habitable Zone End Frost Line Physical Characteristics Age Mass Density Radius Volume Gravity Escape Velocity
1	Long Range	SCMI Array	Spectral Analysis Wavelength (nm) Photosphere Temperature Hydrogen Helium Metals Metallicty
2	Medium Range	MBIS Array	No Data
3	Short Range	SATIR Array	No Data

Development

To be added