Sectors

The galaxy is divided in sectors.

Description
Each sector is an individual nebula. They are connected via the gates. Each Sector has at least 2 exit gates. The sectors are coarsely categorized by the general type of planets and the star radiation level. It is always possible to jump between star systems within a sector, there are no isolated stars that cannot be reached with the space ship.

There are three type of sectors:

Low radiation
Low radiation sectors contain mainly brown and white dwarfs. Yellow dwarfs and red giants are rare. This kind of sector is not inhabited by the major alien races.

Normal radiation
Normal radiation sectors contain mainly yellow dwarfs and red giants. Brown and white dwarfs as well as black holes and pulsars are rare. This kind of sector is in general inhabited by three to four major alien races. They can be found on their planets, fly around with ships, and inhabit spaceports.

High radiation
High radiation sectors contain mainly pulsars and black holes. Yellow dwarfs and red giants are rare. The radiation is so strong that it hurts the ship and the crew in the whole star system. Black holes are very dangerous because of their high gravity, so harvesting exotic matter in their vicinity is very tricky. Flying into black holes is not recommended, due to a minuscule chance of survival; a surviving ship is teleported to a random star system within the sector. Pulsars send a radiation pulse through the whole system every few seconds. High radiation sectors are not inhabited by the major alien races. %$^£ can be found here. The last sector before sol is always a high radiation sector.

Trivia

 * The nebulae originate from actual Hubble Telescope pictures and grey-scale maps developed from those pictures.