I've come up with an idea for Sun Blotting.

[NaffNaffBobFace]

A while ago we tried to blot the sun, and it didn't work very well because in space the sun is SUPER bright... Like, 18,000 members to blot bright.

...so recently I was on Daymar sodding about getting screen-shots at the Jav wreck, and I saw the sun hovering low on the horizon, nice and round, not too bright, and begging to be blotted... I took off and also saw a clear shadow of my ship cast on the ground - there there is a shadow, there it a blotted bit of sun.

So that's my plan - If the sun is too bright to blot in space, then we should do it on a moon/planet. Let it never be said that reality or facts should get in the way of TEST Squadron: if we find we can't blot it in place A easily, we shall search until we find a place Z where we can blot it easily on a sliding scale of participation.

Whadda we think? The slogan never said where we were blotting out the sun, just that it was with Auroras.

 

[Printimus]

Not bad, set it up!

 

[Montoya]

Sounds doable!

 

[FZD]

A while ago we tried to blot the sun, and it didn't work very well because in space the sun is SUPER bright... Like, 18,000 members to blot bright.

...so recently I was on Daymar sodding about getting screen-shots at the Jav wreck, and I saw the sun hovering low on the horizon, nice and round, not too bright, and begging to be blotted... I took off and also saw a clear shadow of my ship cast on the ground - there there is a shadow, there it a blotted bit of sun.

So that's my plan - If the sun is too bright to blot in space, then we should do it on a moon/planet. Let it never be said that reality or facts should get in the way of TEST Squadron: if we find we can't blot it in place A easily, we shall search until we find a place Z where we can blot it easily on a sliding scale of participation.

Whadda we think? The slogan never said where we were blotting out the sun, just that it was with Auroras.

Why gather a thousand auroras to blot out the sun, when a single aurora can blot out a thousand distant suns?
-Ancient Chinese proverb

But yeah, doing it on a planet sounds like fun.

 

[Vavrik]

Ask @Printimus how hard it is to get 10 Rock Raiders to move as a group. This is likely to take a little time to set up. So... use that to your advantage.

 

[Fin_Corso]

For Test and Science!!!

 

[Blind Owl]

I can do a thing! Sign me up!

 

[August]

And my axe! By Axe I mean Aurora.

 

[Wolfy]

Glorious.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Ace, I'll get permission from Mrs. 'BobFace so I can come out and play, and we'll try to work out when is the best time/time zone is for everyone and which planet or moon may be most conducive to sun-blotting activities.

 

[Printimus]

Ask @Printimus how hard it is to get 10 Rock Raiders to move as a group. This is likely to take a little time to set up. So... use that to your advantage.

Haha so true! It's like herding a bunch of feral cats!

 

[Bambooza]

Ace, I'll get permission from Mrs. 'BobFace so I can come out and play, and we'll try to work out when is the best time/time zone is for everyone and which planet or moon may be most conducive to sun-blotting activities.

Wait, you get permission? I've found that there is always a reason why a requested time is not a good time.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Wait, you get permission? I've found that there is always a reason why a requested time is not a good time.

I see what you mean. I will reserve any further comment as TEST is not behind a pay-wall / other form of password encryption

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

So, to start the ball rolling on Sun Blocking I today went on a Fact Finding tour of the three nearest moons Celin, Yela and Daymar to see if there is a suitable sun blotting venue close to Olisar. I tried two spots on each planetoid, one in the full glare of the sun, the other on the side near the Terminator, the area where night meets day and day meets night.

Celin
High Noon:

Late/early in the day:

Yela
High Noon:

Late/early in the day:

Daymar
High Noon:

Late/early in the day:

Yela and Celin have large patches of glare probably due to the thin cold atmospheres, the star has almost as much glare as when you are in space. Daymar, however, has a nice round orb of a sun with not too much glare around it even at high noon.

From these three moons I would suggest Daymar.

Next time I'll try Delamar but expect it's cold thin atmosphere to have similar results to Yela and Celin. After that I'll book it across to Hurston and try out the planet and it's moons.

There doesn't seem to be much difference currently between the glare from the sun seeing it at noon or near the Terminator between day and night, so for the next ones I may only make single images from wherever I land rather than going to two specific places.

Death Count: 2 - 1st death was accidentally ejecting while trying to get out of the M50 on Daymar, 2nd death was coming into land on Celin not realising it's different atmosphere/gravity caused lead me to come in far too hot in my 300i and just slammed into it.

 

[Mich Angel]

I say land our Auroras and raise the beer mugs and sun's gone :P

CHEERS!

 

[Vavrik]

Ace, I'll get permission from Mrs. 'BobFace so I can come out and play, and we'll try to work out when is the best time/time zone is for everyone and which planet or moon may be most conducive to sun-blotting activities.

FYI. I found over the years, that it is sometimes more beneficial to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. Feel free to experiment. That is of course, assuming Mrs. BobFace does not own a sharp set of pruning shears. Or a dull rusty set for that matter.

 

[Bambooza]

Or a dull rusty set for that matter.

Was going to say this is the one i fear the most. with the sharp set its over and done with rather cleanly and hopefully less painful.

FYI. I found over the years, that it is sometimes more beneficial to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. Feel free to experiment

You are a wise man. From trial and error I have found this to be mostly true, as it works until it become predictable and then its almost as bad as then asking for permission and then doing it anyways.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Fact Finding Tour 2: Hurston La Vista, Baby.

I went to Delamar and got the screenshot but then forgot to load it on to a USB and to be honest it was as bad as the other cold moons, so much glare no point in entertaining the idea of blotting it. EDIT - Now with IMAGE:

So this time with pictures, It's Hurston and its moons Ariel, Aberdeen, Magda and Ita.

Hurston: Bunch of glare, not ideal but doable.

Arial: Okay, but not worth the distance traveling from Olisar to blot

Aberdeen: it's almost pre-blotted but the bleed across the skyline makes it highly impractical

Magda: Woah, now we are talking a nice round sun with not too much glare around it.

Ita: it's close run between Ita and Magda, can't decide which has the more perfect sun to blot - both seem to be worth traveling to.

So to summerise, if we fancy flying further for a better blotting experience, Ita and Magda seem like the place to be. Coming soon, ArcCorp and it's moons.

Death Count: 0 - But lost a wing to a crafty asteroid that got in the way while I was QDing between moons and trying to feed the cat at the same time.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Now the grand finale! (Until Microtech comes along, and we can dive into Crusaders Gas Atmosphere)

ArcCorp only has two moons, Wala, Lyra and the planet itself.

Wala: Exceedingly bright and quite a halo round it. Would be doable but worth the trip?

Lyra: Hazy, ill defined. Not impossible but perhaps not a lot of fun to blot this one.

ArcCorp: Not an easy feat as there are few places to set down. Not impossible, but tricky.

Summary: Might not be worth the distance considering Daymar has similar, closer to Olisar.

Death Count: 1 - Crashed to desktop while opening Mobi-glas map.

 

[Vavrik]

Summary: Might not be worth the distance considering Daymar has similar, closer to Olisar.

Well I'm happy with Daymar, but I have a question. Did Mrs. BobFace know what you were doing?
I'm just concerned for your member no that's not it safety hmm, Oh I have it: ability to respawn.