Can a jump be "tracked"?

[Narl]

Is there any way to tell from outside a ship that enters jump where they are headed one they have entered jump space? Is there some signature or residual energy that might leave a clue? Can you pursue a jumping ship is really what it comes down to.

Same question when a ship exits jump. Can that SDB tell where the characters' Scout ship just arrived from?

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Depends.

Is there any way to tell from outside a ship that enters jump where they are headed one they have entered jump space? Is there some signature or residual energy that might leave a clue? Can you pursue a jumping ship is really what it comes down to.

Same question when a ship exits jump. Can that SDB tell where the characters' Scout ship just arrived from?

Well, I seem to recall that the Starship Operator's Manual said yes.

Also, in T5 development there was some Behind the Screens discussion about that, I seem to recall the answer was that you could get an idea but you had to be real close, S2 (Space Range 2, Fighter, 50 Km) in order to actually get good enough sensor data to attempt the Task.

While it may not allow the observer to track the route of the target, T5 also has Jump Flash which is Ship Size + 4 (page 371).

Otherwise, it is your call, your TU.

 

[BlackBat242]

What rules set are you using?

For CT, Marc said in his JTAS #24 article Jumpspace

Because a ship's jump destination cannot be predicted, a microjump within a system still leaves an impression that the ship has left; a week later, it emerges from jump in the same system, to the observer's confusion.

Therefore, if you are using CT rules, all you can tell is that the ship entered jump - neither direction nor distance (jump number) can be determined by an observer or equipment in normal-space.


The Starship Operator's Manual was written for the MegaTraveller rule set - and can be reasonably applied only to MT and later rules - CT was designed to different rules, and back-forcing MT rules and interpretations onto CT can only create more problems and confusion.

 

[rancke]

The Starship Operator's Manual was written for the MegaTraveller rule set - and can be reasonably applied only to MT and later rules - CT was designed to different rules, and back-forcing MT rules and interpretations onto CT can only create more problems and confusion.

IIRC, Marc Miller's essay was pure setting description, not rules. The CT rules didn't mention the question one way or the other. I don't think SOM had any rules about it either, though I can't remember for sure. There's no reason why you can't run a campaign in a universe where jumps can be tracked using CT rules. Or a lot of other rules.

Whether you can track jumps in the OTU as it currently is would seem to be yet another of the long list of questions that we need a decision from On High to settle.


Hans

 

[Lycanorukke]

Thinking on it. (using T5 jumpline rules)

Telling where ship came from if it appears at a 100D limit is fairly easy. Draw a line from the gravity source, through the ship and see which system it intercepts. If multiple systems intercept (very unlikely) make a guess based on how big the ship is and what its model is.

If it pops out away from 100D, its harder. The best you could do is 'cones of probablity' where the cone overlay covers clear paths to other systems, and again guestimate or range based on size and type.

Outgoing - at best you have the type of ship, and how hard it ran its power plant to jump. But again using the clear jumpline idea - you plot a cone of probability as to where it went and how far and then take a guess as to which plot it took. Of course it may have jumped to a deep space depot you dont know about.

Microjumps burn the same about of fuel as a J1, so the ship could be anywhere in the system out to 1pc that isn't mass shadowed (which is a pretty large area) - as all you can tell is it burned enough fuel to jump 1pc or less.

Take for example the current case of Malaysia flight 370. They have created zones of probabilty as to where it flew based on satellite traces and maximum range of fuel endurance. They now have two probability paths extending north and south. Now they are trying to trim those down by searching and guestimating locations.

 

[Condottiere]

1. Assuming there are detectors that can ascertain the energy surges of a jump drive, that would predict how far the ship is supposed to jump.

2. Assuming that the direction of the jump is determined in which direction the drives are pointed, unless the operator can manipulate the direction from a fixed and stationary drive, visual observations would be enough.

3. Residual energies might only indicate that a jump has taken place, and how much energy might have been used.

 

[aramis]

Is there any way to tell from outside a ship that enters jump where they are headed one they have entered jump space? Is there some signature or residual energy that might leave a clue? Can you pursue a jumping ship is really what it comes down to.

Same question when a ship exits jump. Can that SDB tell where the characters' Scout ship just arrived from?

Rules are in Regency Sourcebook for TNE, in the Ref's data section.

You do have to observe the jump, and make a navigation task to interpret the pattern. Once they've jumped, if you missed it, no.

 

[rancke]

Rules are in Regency Sourcebook for TNE, in the Ref's data section.

You do have to observe the jump, and make a navigation task to interpret the pattern. Once they've jumped, if you missed it, no.

Can you jump to a spot X light-weeks from the jump and arrive X weeks after the jump in time to observe it? If necessary with multiple ships to increase the resolution?


Hans

 

[Lycanorukke]

Can you jump to a spot X light-weeks from the jump and arrive X weeks after the jump in time to observe it? If necessary with multiple ships to increase the resolution?Hans

Though that would depend on a jump drive arrangement. Assuming it works by watching the sequence the jump grid fires in, the non grid bubble jump you cant plot anything as there is no grid.

As for the 'looking into the past', organising ships to line up an an interferomenter array to look at something 7 light days away with sufficient resolution (IIRC the SOM said grid lines were about 1m apart) would be a nightmare. Assuming they even had the sensitivty to pull it off, and nothing else was scrambling the signal (other ships jumping etc)

 

[Condottiere]

Get the data from nearby orbital or planetary observatories or radar stations.

Assuming they keep records, backtrack.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Mongoose Secrets of the Ancients pg 195 has Yaskodray making a farewell by having another ship intrude into the ship's jump bubble while in Jumpspace, so theoretically there is some form of technology to track a ship in Jumpspace, just not Imperial TL 15 technology.

 

[Carlobrand]

If you go with jump-masking, i.e. the gravitational fields of large bodies interrupt jump, then certain educated guesses may be possible. For example, if a ship has a jump-2 drive and there are only two systems within that range, and one of them was on the other side of the jump shadow cast by the planet or sun from where the players jumped when they jumped, then they didn't go there. Of course,that presupposes the players remain within the system's plane rather than heading due "north".