Editing Interstellar travel (section)

== Prime targets for interstellar travel ==
There are 59 known [[stellar system]]s within 40 light years of the Sun, containing 81 visible stars. The following could be considered prime targets for interstellar missions:<ref name="Bob Forward 1996">{{Cite journal |first=Robert L. |last=Forward |title=Ad Astra! |journal=Journal of the British Interplanetary Society |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=23–32 |date=1996|bibcode = 1996JBIS...49...23F }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! System !! Distance (ly) !! Remarks
|-
| [[Alpha&nbsp;Centauri]] || 4.3 || Closest system. Three stars (G2, K1, M5). Component&nbsp;A [[solar analog|is similar to the Sun]] (a G2 star). On August 24, 2016, the discovery of an Earth-size [[exoplanet]] ([[Proxima Centauri b]]) orbiting in the [[habitable zone]] of [[Proxima Centauri]] was announced.
|-
| [[Barnard's Star]] || 6 || Small, low-luminosity M5&nbsp;[[red dwarf]]. Second closest to Solar System.
|-
| [[Sirius]] || 8.6 || Large, very bright A1&nbsp;star with a [[white dwarf]] companion.
|-
| [[Epsilon Eridani]] || 10.5 || Single K2&nbsp;star slightly smaller and colder than the Sun. It has two asteroid belts. It is also believed to host a gas giant ([[AEgir (planet)|AEgir]]),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url= https://exoplanet.eu/catalog/eps_eridani_b--73/ | title= Planet eps Eridani b | date= 16 December 1995 | encyclopedia= [[Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia]] | access-date= 2023-08-09}}</ref> possibly another smaller planet,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url= https://exoplanet.eu/catalog/eps_eridani_c--287/ | title= Planet eps Eridani c | date= 16 December 1995 | encyclopedia= [[Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia]] | access-date= 2023-08-09}}</ref> and may possess a Solar-System-type planetary system.
|-
| [[Tau Ceti]] || 11.8 || Single [[G-type main-sequence star|G8 star]] similar to the Sun. High probability of possessing a Solar-System-type planetary system: current evidence shows four planets with potentially two in the habitable zone.
|-
|[[Luyten's Star]]
|12.36
|M3 red dwarf with the super-Earth [[Luyten b]] orbiting in the habitable zone.
|-
| [[Wolf 1061]] || 14.1 || [[Wolf 1061 c]] is 1.6 times the size of Earth; it may have rocky terrain. It also sits within the 'Goldilocks' zone where it might be possible for liquid water to exist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 December 2015 |title=Astronomers Have Discovered The Closest Potentially Habitable Planet |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/astronomers-discovered-closest-potentially-habitable-105244680.html |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=[[Yahoo! News]] |language=en-CA |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214141503/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/astronomers-discovered-closest-potentially-habitable-105244680.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Gliese 667C]] || 23.7 || A system of at least two planets, with a super-Earth lying in the zone around the star where liquid water could exist, making it a possible candidate for the presence of life.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Paul |author-link2=Suvrath Mahadevan |last2=Mahadevan |first2=Suvrath |title=Disentangling Planets and Stellar Activity for Gliese 667C |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |date=October 2014 |volume=793 |issue=2 |pages=L24 |doi=10.1088/2041-8205/793/2/L24 |arxiv=1409.0021 |bibcode=2014ApJ...793L..24R |s2cid=118404871 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Vega]] || 25 || A very young system possibly in the process of planetary formation.<ref>{{cite web |author=Croswell, Ken |date=3 December 2012 |title=ScienceShot: Older Vega Mature Enough to Nurture Life |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/scienceshot-older-vega-mature-enough-nurture-life |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204103521/http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/12/scienceshot-older-vega-mature-en.html |archive-date=4 December 2012 |website=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |doi=10.1126/article.26684|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>
|-
| [[TRAPPIST-1]] ||40.7|| A system which boasts seven Earth-like planets, some of which may have liquid water. The discovery is a major advancement in finding a habitable planet and in finding a planet that could support life.
|}

Existing astronomical technology is capable of finding planetary systems around these objects, increasing their potential for exploration.