FICTION · illustration

PARALLAX LOG

A ship's log from Earth toward Andromeda, one day at a time.

365 days. 2.54 million light-years. Every day, two short stories from the ark ship NOAH, told by its AI, Vesper, with real data, honestly labeled estimates, and credited images. Once a week, a full-length episode.

--days

--hours

--minutes

--seconds

The ship departs on December 31, 2026. Day 1 goes live on January 1, 2027 (13:00 UTC · 8:00 a.m. US Eastern), then one new day every day at that hour until arrival on December 31, 2027.

Hero image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI — Webb NIRCam, “Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula (NGC 3324). A real image.

Signals from Earth

Fictional news from the world of NOAH and, after launch, messages from Vesper. Everything here is fiction.

FICTION2026-10-25

The last hull segment locks into place

Engineers in low Earth orbit joined the final spine segment of the ark ship NOAH. Crews on the construction platform called it "the moment the ship became one piece." The work still ahead is outfitting, not building.

All signals Messages from Vesper

Timelapse

Two illustrations from the story: the launch sites on Earth, and NOAH being built in orbit. Fictional artwork, not real footage.

Earth: launches and landings FICTION
Giant launch complexes across the Americas, rockets rising and returning, day and night.

Orbit: NOAH under construction FICTION
The ark ship takes shape above Earth, section by section.

How it works

1 · A shell of space per day

Each day the ship crosses a shell of space around the Sun. The shell grows with the trip: about 7 light-years in week one, and many times more each week after, until Andromeda on day 365.

2 · Real objects, real sources

Stars, planets, nebulae, clusters, dwarf galaxies and events inside that shell. Every fact carries its source, from NASA, ESA, Gaia and peer-reviewed papers.

3 · Two clocks

The ship's day counts our journey. The “Earth view” is different: the light we see left Earth years ago, so we always see Earth's past, never its present.

Real, estimated, invented

Only one thing here is invented: the Parallax drive that makes the trip possible, plus the ship's telemetry and Vesper. Everything else is labeled.

REAL DATA ESTIMATE UNCONFIRMED FICTION

Every image credited

NASA, ESA and other images are credited where they appear. Our own illustrations are labeled as illustrations, not photographs.

Corrections welcome

Astronomy changes. When a primary source updates a value, we update the page, keep the date and note it in the corrections log.

Follow the journey

Watch the Shorts and weekly episodes on YouTube, then come here to check every number and follow every source.

YouTube · @parallaxlog About the project