Long Range Passive Sensors

These sensors have an operational range of 3.26 light years but can only detect items that generate massive amounts of energy (such as a sun/pulsar/super nova) or a warp bubble. The advantage of this type of sensor is that it does not require the scanning ship to send out any sort of pulse or signal and is therefore useful when trying to hide the ship (in a nebula for example).

A ship travelling at warp will show up clearly within the 3.26 light year range, however its warp signature will not be identifiable until it is within 1 light year.

These passive scans can be carried out very quickly and the ship can scan 360° in all axis in a matter of seconds. They also draw very little power and for this reason the long range passive sensors are almost always left on all of the time.

When the unit is working, it updates every 10 seconds.

The location of stars can also be determined by the computer through observation of visible light so Long Range Passive Sensors are not required to detect stars well beyond the range of the sensors.

Power Requirements

The long range energy passive sensors only draw 1MW of power when they are active.

Upgrades

Research can be used to extend the range. 

Dev Notes

The long range passive sensor array does not suffer any ill effects until its health falls below 80%, at which point it stops working.

Regardless of the scan being used, certain phenomenon show up clearly regardless of their size or distance. These are (but not limited to):

- Anything travelling with a warp bubble (including photon torpedoes, message buoys etc.)
- Anything actively transmitting an un-encrypted message. E.G a distress call
- High energy bursts (Weapons fire, Pulsar, Warp core explosion, Super Nova)
- Any ship actively using non-passive sensors.