My hunt for the strange star which turned out to be many

When leaving the system where the Hesperus is now, I noticed a strange, elongated and very bright star. Being curious and in my new explorer Dolphin, I went on to chase it.

Tried to get closer by getting an approximative direction in the galaxy map, using the galaxy plane as a reference for the general direction, and seeing how apparently close the next star was to the mysterious object in the sky.

1000 ly later, the "elongated star" has turned into a blob. I suspect I'm looking at a star cluster.

400 ly more and individual stars can be seen, this is indeed a kind of star cluster. But it looks unnaturally "in line".

Still closer, and after lots of angle of view changes along the jumps it's now clear that those stars are in the NGC 7822 nebula, not merely in front or behind it.

I found a biological signal near the first star of the cluster! Called a bark mound, but didn't hear it bark. Oh, of course: there's no atmosphere on this planet, sound cannot travel. :-p

from the inside, the nebula is gorgeous! And those O-type blue stars don't look that much aligned anymore. But it could just be a matter of perspective.

In the galaxy map, their alignment is really visible, pointed towards the Bubble. I'm not a astronomer, but this kind of arrangement doesn't seem natural, and cannot be stable. I suspect a bug in the galactic simulation.

And indeed, it is "data mistake", according to the wiki:

https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/NGC_7822

Still gorgeous, still set me on a nice trip, still worth it, though. ^^

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/mpn7mn/my_hunt_for_the_strange_star_which_turned_out_to/

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