Leaving jump space

[graden1]

What happens when a ship emerges from jump space? Is there a visible/detectable effect? Or is a ship's emergence hard to detect? If there is a "signature", does it indicate anything about the emerging ship's point of origin, length of jump, displacement or heading in-system?

In my campaign, I've been working under the assumption that a ship entering/leaving jump space emits large amounts of energy, which varies with the size/type of jump drive in use. But is that really the case? This is an important question, with huge ramifications both for system defense and for intruding forces.

Thanx heaps,

DGv3.0

 

[DaveShayne]

Originally posted by Digital Golem v2.0:
What happens when a ship emerges from jump space?

There is a jump flash listed in canon.

I have always read it as a mostly positional thing, ie boggies be here, any additional information would have to be deduced or infered from later observations of the vessels in question.

YMMV

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by DaveShayne:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Digital Golem v2.0:
What happens when a ship emerges from jump space?

There is a jump flash listed in canon.

<snip></font>[/QUOTE]This comes up now and again, some say yes some say no, basically it's up to you for your game but if you want an official answer you might Ask Avery .

Actually if I may quote James Ramsay when this came up back in September on the TML "Where is jump flash in canon? Just interested!"

As far as I recall (and a quick search just now) this was never answered. Is it a case of saying it enough times and it becomes true? I do have a vague recollection of it being canon from way back but don't trust my memory. Anybody here know? Or should we just put it to Avery?

 

[BigBadRon]

Yep, I seem to recall something about a flash of energy as the ship emerges, but it only tells you that something has come out of Jump, it gives no indication of where it came from or what vector it has.
That's why military ships sometimes Jump at high speed, they retain that velocity through the Jump and don't have to use their M Drive at the other end (making them harder to track).
With a well calculated Jump/velocity combination and enough fuel for a second jump a ship could (theoretically) enter a system, cruise past a target world (for observation or the like), and Jump out again without using its M drive.

I think it's also impossible to accurately predict the destination of a ship entering Jump, otherwise the tactic of micro-Jumping to reappear in the same system a week later (confusing the enemy) would be pretty much useless.

 

[far-trader]

It figures, hit the post button and my trickster memory twigs on a canon reference to jump flash

Anywho, from the DGP Megatraveller book "Starship Operators Manual"

Observing Jumpspace Transition

... the entry of a ship into jumpspace is a most spectacular sight. It begins when the jump grid is first warmed up... The lanthanum traces in the hull slowly build up a faint blue-white glow...

When the Captain orders the ship into jumpspace, the increased energy flow causes the pattern to suddenly become so bright it is almost painful to look at... A blue "energy haze" forms about the ship... Finally, too fast for the eye to follow, the ship seems to collapse into a line along its central axis and quickly shrinks to a brilliant point of light before it vanishes completely.

Dropping out of jumpspace is simply the reverse of the above.

I will note the same source suggests there is no way to predict the point to look for an emerging ship so unless you are looking right at the point at that instant you will miss it.

There is a lot of "discussion" about this on the TML if you want more "opinions"

 

[Ben W Bell]

I always use a lanthanum flash when a ship comes out of jump space. Makes scouts come out further away from any planetary bodies to reduce the risk of detection.

 

[shield]

GURPS also has the blue flash when a ship enters or leaves jump. (mentioned in those little sidebar comments and quotes)

GURPS also says that you can tell a catestrophic misjump by the strange flashes from the jump grid -arcing etc, although you don't know where the ship will appear, just they are in real big trouble.

The Megatraveller starship operators manual says that different races have different patterns of their jump grids, so that you can tell a zho ship from a vargr from an imperial vessel, just by the flash pattern.

Cheers
Richard

 

[N.I.C.E. Labs]

I seem to remember in the CT JTAS art of a ship leaving jump. Coming through a sort of 'hole' with a corona around it. I think a good representation of this to pull from cinema would be the exiting of the Jupiter2 in the Lost in Space movie. In any case there is some sort of flash, noting the black globe tactic of to jump with the globe engaged so their precipitation into normal space would be undetected.

IMTU, I handle detection as ships have jump sensors. Ships can detect the local weakening of space just before jump at close ranges (to avoid unpredictable navigation hazards, especially in busy systems). A well equipped starport might have sensors placed out near the 100AU ranges to detect when incoming ships arrive. I'd imagine the effect would be to local, brief, and weak to be detectible from planetside. In any case, if such detections travel at light speeds, then it could be even hours before a port knows a ship has arrived.

 

[christopher.boote]

Originally posted by N.I.C.E. Labs:
[QB]A well equipped starport might have sensors placed out near the 100AU ranges to detect when incoming ships arrive. QB]

Umm - that's a HUGE area to post sensors in and around - even if you limit them to the plane of the ecliptic (and that's probably the WORST place to Jump into a system, BTW) the circumference of 100 AU is over 584 million miles. Even allowing for a HUGE detection range, that's a LOT of sensors...

 

[shield]

Starports would probably designated areas of space as either jump out points or jump in points, and this navigation info would be included in the library data and nav programs.

They would be near gas gaints (refuelling) and other designated points. It allows the authorities a chance of directing traffic, prevent ingoing and outgoing traffic colliding, allows customs and anti piracy patrols, and effective search and rescue. You could monitor such an area and log all traffic

Also if anyone appears in system, they are automatically a smuggler / invader / first contact or a misjump.

You could prevent ships landing on the mainworld if they had not been logged at the jump point. It allows you to control access without having to seed the system with sensor drones.

Cheers
Richard

 

[Falkayn]

Originally posted by far-trader:
It figures, hit the post button and my trickster memory twigs on a canon reference to jump flash

Anywho, from the DGP Megatraveller book "Starship Operators Manual"

AFAIK all the DGP stuff that they own the rights to is non-canon, including (unfortunately) this fine piece of work. I owned it for a while, and really did enjoy reading it, although I got it after my group stopped RPing Traveller.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Falkayn:

AFAIK all the DGP stuff that they own the rights to is non-canon, including (unfortunately) this fine piece of work. I owned it for a while, and really did enjoy reading it, although I got it after my group stopped RPing Traveller.

Or is it 'forbidden canon' they're calling it now

Right you are though to note it is not a strictly canon source, my goof. I agree its a pity in this case at least.

 

[womble]

...circumference of 100 AU...

It doesn't need to be at 100 AU, just 100 diameters (ca. 100 * 13000km for an earth-type planet) So the circumference is more like 8,000,000km (5,000,000 miles) It's still a long perimeter, though.