Chapter 249: Manic Proxima Centauri
Among the data that Ye Luo restored from the alien device, there was some other messy information in addition to the letters left by the Martian. But this information is not of much use to Weifeng. So, after preserving the Martian body and the parts that had been disassembled, and conducting a comprehensive inspection of the Xinghai spacecraft, Wei Feng once again went into hibernation.
The long voyage continues. Weifeng's journey has gone through more than three-quarters of the way, but there is still a journey of nearly a hundred years ahead to meet Weifeng.
It was a very quiet time. Except for the fact that every time he woke up, he would hear Ye Luo report that there were a few more flashes of light coming from the direction of the solar system, which made Wei Feng a little upset, everything else was fine.
When the spacecraft woke up for the third time, that is, when the spacecraft was less than a light-year away from Alpha Centauri A and B, and about 0.6 light-years away from Proxima Centauri, the high-precision optical telescope equipped on the Starsea spacecraft took pictures of the planet orbiting stars A and B, the planet named the Blue Night Star by human civilization, for the first time.
With the dark and deep space as the background, there is a very dim point of light in the middle of the photo. Not far from it were two large fireballs of blazing brightness. One of the fireballs is larger and yellowish-white, while the other is smaller and reddish. Under the backdrop of these two big fireballs, that small point of light was even more dim and inconspicuous.
But this small point of light is the destination of Weifeng's voyage for hundreds of years, because it is the only planet in the Nanmen two-star system, and it is also the only available foothold for Weifeng after he sails to the Nanmen two-star system. Moreover, if the original Martian civilization really reached the South Gate Two Galaxy...... They must have landed on this planet as well.
The planet is smaller in diameter and a little more massive than Mars. Its surface gravity is about half that of Earth, but its surface temperature is much higher than that of Earth. Calculated based on the latest observations of leaf fall. Wei Feng knew that the temperature above it was at least eight hundred degrees Kelvin.
A temperature of 800 degrees Kelvin is not enough to break the protection of the spacesuit, at most it will make the energy consumption of the spacesuit a little faster, but a higher temperature means stronger stellar energy, which is very beneficial for collecting solar energy and thus saving spacecraft fuel.
On the fifth awakening. The image of the Blue Night Star finally changed from a small point of light to a disc-shaped, and its topography could barely be discerned from it. Wei Feng saw the mountains and vast plains above it, and also saw some shadow areas, which Wei Feng speculated should be huge meteorite impact craters. It is obvious that there is no atmosphere on the Blue Night Star, and without an atmosphere there would be no weathering and erosion, and these impact craters can be preserved for a long time.
It was also when he woke up this time that Wei Feng finally saw the appearance of Proxima Centauri, a faint and small red dwarf. When Wei Feng stood by the porthole of the spaceship, he could see it hanging quietly in the sky, shining faintly with the thousands of stars in the universe.
At this moment, the distance between Wei Feng and it was less than 0.2 light-years. The distance from the Sun is four light-years. But even so, the sun still shines brighter than the red dwarf. It's too small, its radius is only fifteen percent of the Sun's radius, or one and a half times Jupiter's radius, and it's too low, it's only twelve percent of the Sun's mass, or rather...... One hundred and fifty times the mass of Jupiter.
Wei Feng is still carrying out the repair and maintenance work of the Star Ocean spacecraft. As time passes, as the destination gets closer. The situation of the Xinghai spacecraft is getting worse and worse, but it can still barely operate. Perhaps thanks to Wei Feng's dedicated maintenance work, although the Xinghai spacecraft had frequent minor problems, major failures similar to the fuel leak never occurred again.
A few months passed, and Wei Feng once again entered hibernation. This time, Wei Feng will continue to hibernate for thirteen years, and at the same time, this is also Wei Feng's last hibernation before entering the South Gate II galaxy.
After all, South Gate 2 is a triple star system. Although Proxima Centauri is very far away from stars A and B, it is barely possible to enter the South Gate II galaxy when it crosses the orbit of Proxima Centauri.
Yes, the next time you wake up, the spacecraft will reach the closest point to Proxima Centauri. According to the latest estimates, this distance is 550 billion kilometers. Approximately twenty-one light days away. The Star Ocean spacecraft will pass Proxima Centauri above this distance, and will not stop there, but will continue to go deep into the heart of the South Gate II system.
Thirteen years passed again, and Wei Feng woke up from his slumber again. For Wei Feng, time seems to have lost its meaning, and Wei Feng has completely lost his sense of the numbers above the timer, which often change in ten-year increments. Because...... Ten years is just time for Wei Feng to sleep.
At this moment, we have come to the closest point with Proxima Centauri. There is a mission to observe Proxima Centauri in the Lonely Island Project, and although the human government has been divided at this moment, and Wei Feng has long been forgotten, Wei Feng is still faithfully abiding by his duties. Wei Feng carried out one out-of-cabin mission after another, moving out the various instruments that had been stored in the warehouse and installing them on the bulkhead of the Star Ocean spacecraft, so that they could make observations of Proxima Centauri.
The distance of 550 billion kilometers is still very far away, but it is close enough for the distance in the universe that is often measured in light years. At least, with the exception of Wei Feng, no one in human civilization has ever come so close to a red dwarf star as this.
Those instruments did not disappoint Wei Feng. They have obtained a large number of observations and taken many photographs that clearly reflect the activity on the surface of Proxima Centauri. To Wei Feng's surprise, although the star was small, it was not calm.
There's a photo that makes this clear. In that specially processed photograph, Proxima Centauri's intense magnetic field penetrated its photosphere and chromosphere, and then connected the coronal layer to Proxima's internal magnetic field, and the energy stored in it suddenly exploded, creating an intense flare eruption.
The flare eruption is similar to that of the Sun, but with some subtle differences. This burst of activity over Proxima Centauri can more than double its brightness in a short period of time and eject large amounts of coronal material.
Wei Feng, who is only 500 billion kilometers away from it, can detect these changes in brightness with the naked eye, but people in the solar system can't do this. Because it is so far away from the solar system, it is also so faint that even if Proxima Centauri is ten times brighter, or even a hundred times brighter, it will still not be visible to the naked eye.
In addition to observing Proxima Centauri itself, Weifeng also tried to find some possible asteroids or companion stars around Proxima Centauri through occultation, or some scattered asteroid belts of material like asteroid belts. But the result ended up disappointing Wei Feng, and the area where Proxima Centauri was located looked empty to Wei Feng, with nothing else but itself.
Of course, complete emptiness is impossible, where there are stars is a place in the universe where there is a lot of matter, and although Proxima Centauri is small, there must be comets and asteroids around it. It's just that they're too small for Wei Feng to see.
Observing Proxima Centauri lasted for several months, and as the distance between Proxima Centauri and Proxima Centauri gradually increased, Wei Feng finally gave up on the matter. This period of observation made Wei Feng realize that Proxima Centauri is just a very ordinary red dwarf, and there are no planets around it, so it actually has little value. Although it is closest to the Sun, even if human civilization has the ability to travel on a large scale, it is estimated that people will not use it as a port of call for interstellar navigation.
The real worthy goal is still ahead of Weifeng. There are two bright suns there, and a hot, but very stable terrestrial planet, which can provide a very sufficient source of material if you want to build a space base, and those two suns can provide a sufficient source of energy......
It is the best port of call for interstellar voyages, but ...... Whether human civilization will finally use this port of call will come one day, Wei Feng does not know.
Passing Proxima Centauri, the distance between the Star Ocean spacecraft and stars A and B is still about 0.2 light-years away. This means that Wei Feng has to sleep two more times before he finally reaches his destination.
In the past few months, Weifeng has completed the observation mission of Proxima Centauri, completed the routine inspection and maintenance of the Xinghai spacecraft, and completed its own recovery training mission. The scheduled hibernation time had arrived, but Wei Feng did not enter the hibernation capsule.
"Ye Luo, at this moment, we have reached the South Gate Two Galaxy." "We've even crossed Proxima Centauri's orbit. So I think...... The encrypted messages that Führer Keller left in your database can already be decrypted, right? Hand them over to me, and let me see what Führer Keller had arranged......"
"Okay Captain, please wait." Ye Luo replied. (To be continued......)
PS: That's all there is to it today......