Beagle Point marks the end point of a galaxy-spanning expedition undertaken by Commander Kamzel in 3301. At the time, the system was known as Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0, but Kamzel nicknamed it Beagle Point after his beloved beagle Jack, who had passed away a short time before. One year later, the system was chosen as the final destination of the first Distant Worlds expedition, resulting in an influx of over 500 pilots in April 3302. In recognition of these events, Universal Cartographics officially renamed the system Beagle Point on the 26th of May 3302.
— In-Game Description
Beagle Point (formerly designated Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0) is a system in The Abyss. It is one of the most remote discovered star systems in the Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of 65,279 Light Years from Sol, and reaching it requires a ship with a minimum jump range of 34LY. Traveling to Beagle Point and returning to the Core Systems intact is considered an arduous milestone for any explorer, above and beyond the trek to Sagittarius A* yet a step below making a successful crossing to Oevasy SG-Y d0, the most distant reachable system from Sol.
System Layout
- Beagle Point (Class K star)
- Beagle Point 1 (High metal content world)
- Beagle Point 2 (High metal content world, landable) (aka "Darwin's Legacy")
- Memorial to Zy, Zylo, Zylophone (Tourist Beacon)
- Beagle Point 3 (High metal content world, landable)
- Beagle Point 4 (Icy body)
- Beagle Point 5 (Icy body)
- Beagle Point 6 (Icy body, landable) (aka "Randle's Rest")
- Beagle Point 7 (Icy body, landable) (aka "Maile's Landing")
- Beagle Point 8 (Icy body, landable) (aka "Tara")
- Beagle Point 9 (Icy body, landable)
Travelling to Beagle Point
As stated above, Beagle Point is located at a stunning distance of 65,279 light-years away from Sol. This is more than twice the distance from Sol to Sagittarius A*, and the journey to Beagle Point (As well as the way back) can take several weeks, if not months, depending on your pace. The record time for getting to Sagittarius A* is 6 hours 35 minutes, in a ship fully optimized and engineered for neutron jumping.
Equipment
Beagle Point route via the Formidine Rift and The New Outer Spiral Arm
- Patience. This is key to all long-range explorations, but for this journey, you will need it more than ever before. You have to understand that going on a trip to Beagle Point is willing to do thousands of FSD jumps, visiting thousands of stars/planets, scanning as much as you can, eventually stopping at some points on your route for advanced exploration or for collecting resources on planets. All this over the span of several weeks/months with the constant pressure of death (Be it to module malfunction, lack of attention or even crash on a high-gravity planet) out there in the black. Since this is a very tiring journey, you lose focus quicker than you may think, and before you realize it you will probably jump in a system & without enough fuel to jump anywhere out of it.
- Good exploration ship with optimized outfitting. See Explorer for recommendations. Just like any other long-range exploration, take all the necessary gear such as:
- Fuel Scoop
- A-grade Frame Shift Drive with Increased Range Engineering mod and Deep Charge or Mass Manager Experimental Effect
- Guardian Frame Shift Drive Booster
- Detailed Surface Scanner
- D-rated modules with Engineering mods that reduce their mass where applicable
- FSD Injection Materials
- At least one Auto Field-Maintenance Unit for emergency module repairs; two AFMUs is recommended, since this allows one AFMU to repair the other in the event either sustains damage
- Planetary Vehicle Hangar for planet exploration and Raw Material prospecting
The Abyss
Milky Way from Beagle Point
- Aside from the common hazards of exploration, there is an area of the galaxy you should CAREFULLY be on the lookout for: The Abyss. It is located in the northern part of the Milky Way, in-between the Scutum-Centaurus & the Sagittarius-Carina arms. The Abyss is approximately 45,000 lightyears long, 2,000 lightyears wide and has extremely low star density, so low that it feels like staring at an abyss. Even with today's FSD technologies & upgrades, crossing the Abyss still proves to be an extremely difficult challenge.
- Manual plotting is highly advised! Trying to plot the route automatically might very often lead you in a dead end. You will want to look up guides/routes from other explorers as well. Be sure to carefully trace your route & pick as much scoopable stars as possible, because...
- ...Fuel is your number one priority. Since the systems are very far from one another, the threat of not having enough fuel for next jump is extremely high. And if you happen by sheer bad luck to be in a system with an unscoopable star that you can't jump out of, your last hope will be to call the Fuel Rats for help. Or be left alone with fuel slowly running out & die, losing all your hard work (And perhaps your motivation for a second trip) in the process.
The benefits of this journey
SRV at Beagle Point
Generally, reaching Beagle Point and returning back to the bubble alive is a guaranteed way of getting Elite rank in Exploration. All the exploration data you will have gathered can easily number in the hundreds of millions of credits, if you scanned enough systems on the way. You will also most certainly encounter lots of undiscovered systems, which will all net you a +50% CR bonus for the first discovery.
Why Beagle Point? Beagle Point is of early exploration historical importance as it was one of the furthest systems an explorer could reach prior to the Jumponium (fuel boost synthesis) and Engineer era. It marked the end of the line for Cmdr 'Erimus' Kamzel's Distant Suns Expedition (the first recorded galactic crossing - culminating in mid-January 3301), and as such the system subsequently became a popular location to visit for other deep space travellers exploring the far galactic rim in the years that followed. The system was named after Kamzel's 34 lightyear Asp Explorer, the DSS Beagle.
The early history of Beagle Point has been documented on the Galactic Mapping Project thread.
Notes
- The system, originally designated Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0, was first discovered by CMDR Kamzel, aka "Erimus", as part of his "Distant Suns" expedition to survey the far side of the galaxy This was the first recorded galactic crossing, culminating on January 18, 3301.
- CMDR Kamzel unofficially named the system "Beagle Point" after his ship, an Asp Explorer dubbed the DSS Beagle, which was itself named for his late pet beagle, Jack.
- Beagle Point featured as the main destination of the Distant Worlds Expedition[1] that launched a year later on January 18, 3302, in which 1,153 players pledged to participate in a massive coordinated journey to Beagle Point with the goal of scanning as many systems as possible along the way. Only 571 players, less than 50% of the original fleet, confirmed that they had reached Beagle Point at the end of the expedition. [2] Beagle Point also featured as the main destination of the follow-up Distant Worlds II expedition in 3305.
- Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0 was officially renamed "Beagle Point" by Frontier Developments on May 26, 3302 to commemorate its importance to the exploration community.
- Jaques Station, the only space station equipped for continuous star travel, attempted an extreme long-range jump to Beagle Point from Gliese 1269 on May 21, 3302, following a successful community goal to provide the station with fuel. Due to Thargoid Sensor interference, the station's drives malfunctioned during the jump and it was stranded in the system of Eol Prou RS-T d3-94, later renamed Colonia. Jaques Station's unintended stranding spurred hundreds of pilots to come to his aid, resulting in the settlement of the Colonia Region and the establishment of the Colonia Connection Highway.
- Beagle Point is 547.52 LY away from Oevasy SG-Y d0, the furthest reachable system in the Milky Way galaxy from Sol.
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