Create an exploration or exobiology photoessay!

Posted by Alex Sinclair in Elite Dangerous

We're still riding high on Mandalay and Ascendancy fever, and in that spirit of exploration we're setting a new type of challenge: a photoessay! What is a photoessay? A photoessay combines a series of themed images with minimal text accompanying each photo. Together, the photos and text should tell a non-fiction story exploring a topic.

In this case, your photoessay's theme should be exploration or exobiology, but we advise you choose a more specific topic on top, for example: 'the life of a solo explorer in the farthest reaches of the galaxy'. We recommend between five and 15 images. Don't forget to give your photo essay a name and be sure to verify your images via social media.

This is a tiered bounty, offering 20 $10 rewards as well as a $50, $30, and $20 reward for the best photoessays.

Bounty Rewards

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Reward closed

Created at 1:41pm, 7th November, 2024. Page last updated at 11:15pm, 6th March, 2025.
Deadline at 12:00am, 21st November, 2024.

Submissions (17)

Lambda11/20/2024

Won$10

I acquired a Mandalay as soon as I could and engineered it for long-range exploration.

My destination: Lyed YJ-I d9-0m AKA Amundsen's Star. When viewing the galaxy map from top-down, this system is the furthest "south" one can go. It's not the most far-flung you can get from Sol, but since it's at the extreme edge of the galaxy you get some amazing views!

After travelling for weeks, it's almost terrifying to see the whole galaxy -where all other life resides- light up the night sky. And not a stray star up there; just the inky dark of intergalactic void.

That being said, there is life here; strange trees in space, and the helpful crew of the DSSA TTV Somdy!

After collecting critical supplies and leaving a massive tip at the bar, I explored more of the system. Lyed YJ-I d9-0 has three(!) water worlds orbiting its main star, and one of them is a possible candidate for terraforming (seen below). I wonder if we'll ever send a colony ship out this far...

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Amundsen's Star. I fuel scooped the main star, just to carry some atoms of the extreme frontier with me back to the Bubble...