Sagittarius A*

Sagittarius A* is a popular destination for explorers and travellers. It is a supermassive black hole of the type found in most spiral and elliptical galaxies. Radio transmissions indicating its existence were first discovered by Karl Jansky.

— Tourist Beacon 0082, "The Centre"

Sagittarius A*, officially abbreviated as Sgr A* and colloquially as SagA*, is the system in the Galactic Centre region that is recognized as the exact centre of the Milky Way galaxy. It is 25,899.99 light-years away from Sol. The system is home to the only known Supermassive Black Hole, as well as a white B-type star called Source 2. Dedicated explorers are traditionally expected to visit Sagittarius A* at least once in their careers due to its significance, but any pilot can make the trip provided they prepare their ship with long-range travel in mind.

Only 3.66 ly away from Sagittarius A* is the system Stuemeae FG-Y d7561, where Explorer's Anchorage is located. Explorer's Anchorage is the closest Starport to both Sagittarius A* and Beagle Point, as well as the most distant Starport from Sol. It is a convenient rest stop for Sagittarius A* visitors and other travelers passing through the Galactic Centre.

History[]

Sagittarius A* was documented by Universal Cartographics at some point, but remained uncharted and unexplored until December 1, 3300, when CMDR Zulu Romeo, piloting the Cobra MkIII Useless Reptile, became the first human to enter and scan the system while scouting a route for the First Great Expedition. A wave of visitors followed beginning on January 8, 3301 with CMDR Erimus Kamzel, and in short order Sagittarius A* became a significant touchstone for explorers and independent expeditions. Its importance was commemorated on October 25, 3302 with the addition of Tourist Beacon 0082 "The Centre", which remains the only permanent artificial structure in the system.

During the Distant Worlds II expedition of 3305, the expedition members constructed Explorer's Anchorage, an Orbis starport, in the nearby Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 system to serve as a research centre and rest stop for visitors to Sagittarius A*.

System Layout[]

Sagittarius A* (Supermassive Black Hole)
Source 2 (B-class Star)

Notes[]

It is important to note the distinction between Sagittarius A and Sagittarius A*. The former is a complex radio source, while the latter is the supermassive black hole that is part of that source.
On February 18, 2016, Sagittarius A* became the first location where the theoretical instance cap for Elite Dangerous was broken, with over 50 player ships recorded in the same instance. Soon after, this record was broken with 101 players recorded.
The maximum surface scan range for Sagittarius A* is 144,278 Ls.^[1]^[2]