The Atlas

What the Atlas is

The Atlas is a comprehensive database of all public discovered systems.

When you discover a new system you will be given the option to share the knowledge with the Atlas. If you choose to do so, you receive a credit reward. If you keep it private, the system information and location stay visible on the Atlas only for you, and for anyone else who visits the system while exploring the galaxy. Either way your name stays on the system as its first explorer.

That credit reward is 1,000 credits for every point of cosmic dust the system was worth to you, and it is not taxed by your squadron. A system's cosmic dust grows with its distance from the starter systems, so the payout grows with it. See Exploring for how that value is built.

Publishing also rolls for a reward chest: a 10% chance on systems you discovered yourself, and 25% on systems brought back by a Voyager expedition. The chest holds credits scaled to your exploring level, plus one common and one rare resource scaled to your gathering level.

Private systems

If another player arrives at a system you discovered but did not publish, they will see that you discovered it first, and it will be included on the Atlas only for them. A private system only appears on someone's Atlas if they have paid it a visit first.

Collections

You can find rare lost objects through the galaxy that can be collected while traveling. There is also a prize for completing a full set of objects, called a Collection.

TL;DR:

• Publishing a discovery to the Atlas pays 1,000 credits per point of its cosmic dust, and can also drop a reward chest.
• Keeping a system private hides it from everyone who has not visited it.
• Your name stays on every system you discovered first, published or not.