VV Cephei 2

Dbx "Alexei Leonov" NH-16D

VV Cephei 2

Distance from Sol: 2,452 ly

Day 2, and the Leonov continues to perform nominally. I’ve set down for the night on VV Cephei 2, as I urgently need rest.

We passed an interesting binary system on the way in at Plaa Eurk VT-R d4-17. The primary was a class F star, the secondary an A class. I ended up barrelling through the gap between them scooping as I went. Luckily the ship coped with the elevated thermal conditions without breaking a sweat (literally!).

We had an uneventful but striking run down to the planet – VV Cephei is a red supergiant star and is colossal which means that planet 2, although in an orbit which is quite large in a normal system, is orbiting the sun much closer to its surface. The temperature is a massive 862K out in the direct sun. The scene is of baked desolation.

There is a mystery here in VV Cephei. Back in the 20th century astronomers on Earth saw this system as a binary – VV Cephei had a companion, a blue-white dwarf star. Nothing unusual about this – until mankind arrived in this system. The first explorers found there was no blue-white companion star, and to this day it remains a mystery as to where it could have gone.

I did make a quick trip out onto the plain before shutdown – there were no minerals or materials within range and time was getting on, so i’m back onboard now and preparing to get some shuteye.

As is my habit, i’ve shut down all systems for the night except shields and life support.

Tomorrow I must push on or risk being left behind.