Greetings and good fortune, councilmembers of the Astronomical Union. The team's official address with all recorded data is scheduled for a year and a half from now, but a midpoint progress report is in order. The purpose of this report is to give initial findings to guide further questioning and direction for this once-unknown object of study, as well as elaboration on the status of the research team and any necessary adjustments and accounts. Though formatting of such is usually formal, you have granted me special privileges as the Avatar of the Machine to speak as I wish, and I will be using those privileges liberally through this report.
Abstract
Object A-96-125AB-4J, semi-officially designated as "Enlil" by the team entrusted to me, has proven to be a valuable prospect for current and future xenobiological research. The findings herein have revealed a great deal about the origin of this world, and the resources available make it a fitting candidate for future development. Psychological screening of the crew has concluded "Enlil" as suitable for habitation for some people, though the effects of its mundane properties may still prove a challenge.
A-96-125AB-4J is, for future archival search purposes, a rogue planet discovered by Pherranite observatories from Gaess-Pherran in 3 PT, during the 7th entrarch of the year, an impressive discovery so early after its construction. Researchers were unsure of whether this body was an aberration, a regular celestial body, or a celestial body with aberrance contained therein such as Entroph since the fall of the Torratolys. My team consisted of members assigned to the polar research teams on the Axilarys-Annwn survey and some members from the Shardwatcher operation on Entroph. This team consisted of those who have experience with safely studying dangerous aberrations and those well-adjusted to long polar nights, as well as myself for my coordination skills.
Once again, A-96-125AB-4J has been given the name "Enlil" by my team, though its original designation will take official status until the CPAU decides on an official name for it, be it Enlil or something else. As the head researcher and operator for this expedition, I would like to formally request Enlil be made Object A-96-125AB-4J's official name, and following this and the ample references to the original designation, I will be referring to it as such for the remainder of this report.
Outstanding data will be explained first, after which I will get into the crew's status.
Findings - Physical
The primary orbital survey of Enlil found its mass to be about 4/3 that of Pherran's, with its radius being slightly larger than our homeworld. Gravity, while somewhat greater than Pherran's, was found to be within safe limits for our team's landing and long-term habitation. Its gravitational "blurriness" noticed by the original discovery data was not the result of any aberrance, but rather is the result of a satellite moon. This moon has not been named yet but is referred to as Enlil B amongst the team. Naming it has become the reward for the crew member who provides the most useful findings at conclusion of this study. Enlil B's mass is about 10% that of Enlil, making it a significant major moon. Orbital surveys found notable eccentricity of both bodies around their barycenter, which has effects on several key aspects of the Enlil-Enlil B system. The moon orbits in roughly 5.6 days and is tidally locked to Enlil, which itself rotates every sixteen and a third hours. The eccentricity of these bodies' orbits is notable, enough to make a visible difference in Enlil B's apparent size over the course of its orbit.
Enlil's mass is primarily rock and silicates, not ices as originally thought. There is significant presence of volatiles such as water on the surface, however, in the form of a shallow planetary ocean. The tidal heating between Enlil and its moon is strong enough to bring the world up to a habitable temperature, which has melted the ices that may have been present into an ocean. The atmosphere, while difficult to analyze from orbit due to lack of sunlight for spectroscopic data, is thick enough to support this ocean and a complete weather system. The deepest point of the ocean is a few kilometers, though these trenches do not represent the majority of the terrain. The sea floor is on average one hundred meters below the oceanic surface, with decently large areas being just below the water line by a few meters. Our research base is located in one of these shallow zones, as it made research on materials much easier. The tides are notably about 4-5 meters on average, with maximal lunar tide at Enlil B's closest approach being about 5.6 meters.
Enlil B is rocky and has little surface volatiles of any variety. It is hotter than its parent planet, as should be apparent to any planetary researcher, but it does not have an atmosphere to heat up from this. Phosphorescent compounds on the moon give it a slight visible glow from its internal heating, though the broad impurities make it somewhat silver. This moon is dimly visible from the surface of Enlil with some surface features distinct, but this was only observed in low light pollution. Its occultation of the galaxy's luminous gas and stars have been much more reliable methods of tracking Enlil B from the illuminated base set up on Enlil. What was very visible, however, were the eruptions that occurred on our fifth day of construction of our research base on Enlil itself. A decent portion of the moon was lit up with patterns of lava floes, and the eruption released enough powdered material to darken a small region upon later observation. It was a very lucky catch by our team, and the data is being processed into both accurate images and footage and into appealing images with visual adjustments for ease of viewing by the public. We will be relaying these in the next report.
Enlil's atmosphere is about 7/8 that of Pherran's, but is mostly similar in composition. Compounds from within the mantle are present in vast quantities, though, which is not good for long-term health without filtration technology. As the Avatar of the Machine, I was able to formulate and provide filtration technology needed to our base of operations during the course of our stay. You will find the blueprints encoded in standard format along with this report.
Findings - Biological
Enlil is, for historical reasons I will get to momentarily, inhabited by an ecosystem that spans the entire planet. The shallow oceans, maintained by tidal heating against the cold of interstellar space, are rather consistent in their composition and spread across the world. There aren't any noticeable climate zones, save for depth, and the oceans seem to be hotter the deeper they are. Corals flourish in the shallower regions, though the chemical bath of the few deep trenches proves too much and has a reductive zone of influence on the propagation of species. About 20% of these noted species are toxic to Xherari skin, but the biochemistries of a select few corals and "coralfish" have been studied and found to be theoretically edible. What carrying capacity this provides for future habitation is a study that has not been started yet. Mc. Reyalhi is ill currently, and has otherwise been putting off that study in favor of decorating our habitation. She claims that it is having an effect on psychological examinations, but refuses to show the data. I would request a 5% pay reduction for that.
Enlil's life is carbon based, much like that of Sisyurin, Annwn, and the moons of Entroph. This carbon-water solvent commonality is notable for future xenobiological research in other systems throughout the galaxy. Its composition is orthodox and predictable to a degree not quite precedented by the idea of an isolated interstellar body with completely unique conditions. The team has their theories, but we are still only at about 60% confidence of the most striking one.
Much of Enlil's life is chemosynthetically bioluminescent. The oceans are alight with life, though very few species have been discovered that make use of this light. Primitive eye-like structures on some coralfish have been noted, but nothing advanced. The genetic analyst assigned to the crew from the Entroph excursion, Mh. Vifkihn Cunas, has created multiple (unauthorized) detailed simulations of future ocular evolution. Disciplinary action may be required.
Speculation - Historical
The most impactful theory we have for the origin of Enlil's life is also our best theory at the origin of the planet itself. The extreme orthodoxy of genetic information with existing datasets does come from earlier research, in fact. Its closest match, though separated by panspermic celestial isolation for potentially billions of years, is the genetic information system of life on Annwn, second planet from Axilarys. Within a few evolutionary rounding errors, it is plausible that Enlil's life was originally from Annwn, or possibly the other way around. We are still running numbers and simulations to find evidence that can give us a more definitive answer.
If Enlil originated within Axilarys' system, or was an interloper for long enough to gain life from Annwn, this would answer many questions about the planet's origin. The galaxy's starflow erases much of that evidence, but this could be an anchor point that gives us absolute certainty! It would doubtless be a discovery for the ages.
Ledger of Events
Our ship-base, the V2 Galcyuun, orbited Enlil for the first two entrarchs, studying what we could of its physical properties before finding a suitable site to send a scouting pod. I was jettisoned with the pod into a calmer shallow region. We were already aware of life existing on Enlil before this, as the vast quantities of glowing corals had some visibility from space. As per Central's request, I suspended my biological functions within the provided exosuit for the entire duration of my initial surface survey. My current state is still recovering from the multi-entrarch regulated study. While I was there, I took the materials within the pod and constructed a platform that would use low-refinement hypertriptine suspensors to stay a constant elevation above the water, as tides would sink most practical stationary structures. This home base was augmented with atmospheric equipment and communications relays. Though I only had contact with the rest of the crew when the ship was in direct line of sight, we were able to maintain two-way connection at least reliably.
After much time spent determining that the atmosphere would, in fact, have adverse effects on me if I were to return function to my organic body, I relayed this to the crew and began devising the technologies that would allow us to all safely traverse the planet. Honestly, a corrosion-resistant airtight respirator that covers the mouth and eyes (as well as another one for the tail) should be fine, provided a tank of safe air to breathe from. But such machinery is uncomfortable for long periods of time, and this three-year expedition needed something better. Again, I will release this new technology as a part of the formal final report. It still requires tweaking and improvements. I will say this, though. What I have devised is calibrated to specifically neutralize Enlil's dangers, and will require further calibration for whatever hazards come its way. It is in no way suitable for atmospheres besides Enlil's, nor will it protect against anything not naturally present in Enlil's air. The fixes to these will come later. Do not request further information until I am ready.
Much of the subsequent half-year was spent with the team, expanding the base into something of a small floating village whilst we set up necessary stations. This base became known as Enkilan-Xh. We did not land the ship on Enlil until a secure launch pad was constructed. Biological research made up the bulk of our activities, and we had artificial light exposure therapy force us awake at regular intervals to prevent sleep schedule drift. We did stagger sleep, though, so parts of our crew were always awake to do maintenance during the rare disaster.
The environment proved to be remarkably stable, with only lightly acidic rain causing concern. Chemical engineering has saved us from this, though, allowing a precipitate neutralizer to be added to our localized atmospheric control. I worried that our presence, however minimal, was affecting the ecosystem, so I began doing further and further sample collection from the base. This should have minimized our impact on our own data. Water vehicles were constructed over the next several days to facilitate these travels, and now most of the rest of the crew handles them.
Data collection has been on track considering the wealth of properties not conceived by the original expedition parameters: Ocean, atmosphere, semi-habitability, native life. This mid-expedition report should have had a lot more conclusions, but the circumstances simply do not allow that.
Crew Status Report
The team entrusted to me is all still physically healthy and alive, fortunately. Medical examinations have very little variation from what would be expected of a planet with this atmospheric pressure and gravity, and diet can account for most of that. The lack of sunlight seems to have stronger effects on those not trained for long polar nights, but this is being worked on.
Psychological evaluations, save for the last 47 days that I have not been permitted to access by Mc. Reyalhi, have been stable. They initially faced a sharp decline as uncertainty in our base's stability and the unique conditions of Enlil bore down on everyone. They have since somewhat recovered, though Reyalhi's reluctance to show later reports has me concerned.
Our diet has consisted of fabricated nutrients augmented by extremely denatured matter from the theorized edible species. Experiments by the biotechnicians Invar Selas Wedwemerr and Ryalki Modrin Odiriph to get closer to consuming the lifeforms in their natural state have been declined seven times, though I am considering letting them begin. It does serve our long-term goals to collect that data, and much of their other necessary work has been done by this point. Reserve seeds that we had packed to begin hydroponic farming did go missing during base construction, however, so we have been subsisting off of much more artificial replacements for those nutrients. I believe this may be negatively impacting psychological evaluations.
Relations within the crew have not been authorized by Central. Conflict has been inconsistent, but the main stressors seem to be environmental rather than anything to do with the tasks everyone is assigned. Morale amongst coworkers is lower than within the individual sub-teams. Segmentation by the base-buildings has been a good call.
I myself am about eight entrarchs younger biologically than I would be had I not undertaken necessary use of Xeo Raqovia for this expedition. That added half year to my lifespan has been keeping me going despite everything, alongside the visible progress towards our final goals.
Recommendations
Enlil is a haven for unique forms of life. I will not call them the most unique lifeforms in the universe, as their existence is quite easily understood. It should be preserved, in the team's professional opinion and my own, as closely as it can be to its current state. Floating cities similar to the base we constructed may be usable for habitation by actual settlers, but they should be extremely hardy individuals who are also ecologically-minded.
If the issue of food sourcing can be solved, permanent research bases are in order here. Enlil-B is a terrible candidate for construction on account of the rampant sudden volcanism. Enlil, however, is habitable enough to seriously become a colony candidate for Central.
I recommend sending an automated shipment of seeds to our base, potentially with some Pherranite or Mahuerranite fish so that we can properly set up sustainable food and test how our planets' ecosystems interact. If you have eager crew members that pass evaluations, you may also send up to two more here.
Economically, you may not be able to gain much from Enlil. There are almost no aberrations here, much less any exploitable ones. As the Axilarys-Annwn survey found not much value in drilling Annwn's oceans, I doubt much would be gained by doing the same here. Tourism and astronomical research may be the best uses for this world. What material can be harvested from beneath its seas is best used for construction on Enlil.
Final thoughts
Enlil is beautiful. Eternal night is quite comforting once you get used to it, and the waters are much less dangerous to the skin than they are to the eyes or internals of the body. The low illumination of everything from below and the semi-luminous waters of the reef Enkilan-Xh is suspended over make for truly unfathomable sights. The horizon is completely flat and featureless, with stars reflected on the waters that never end.
I know there is no way to combat the natural forces that give Enlil its slight poison, but imagining a version of this planet where I can breathe the air and drink the water is something like paradise to me.
The next year and a half will be fruitful. We've discovered a region that is above water at the extreme low tide of Enlil-B's closest approach, and a branch team is working on efforts to study how that affects things there. Expect more to come. Much more.
Good fortune and long lives,
Exan Novali Solaeri Cuberr, Starship Engineer and Avatar of the Machine since 9 BT