★ Focuses on the exploration of Proxima and Barnard, unveiling new targets for interstellar travel.
★ Systematically introduces the history, technology, and projects of interstellar navigation, demonstrating how dreams can become reality.
★ In-depth analysis of cutting-edge technologies like nuclear propulsion and light sails, addressing the challenges of leaving the Solar System.
★ Featuring a preface by Italian astrophysicist Patrizia Caraveo, highlighting the interdisciplinary significance and historical inspiration of space exploration.
★ Written by an experienced astronomer with extensive science communication expertise, ensuring both authority and accessibility.

What are the next destinations for interstellar exploration? And how might we reach them? Carbognani offers a fascinating guide to the present and future of interstellar travel.

From Proxima Centauri to Barnard’s Star, our stellar neighborhood holds worlds we may one day explore. But how do we travel among the stars? This book guides the reader through the history, technologies, ideas, and projects that are transforming the dream of interstellar flight into a tangible possibility. From stellar evolution to the discovery of exoplanets, from nuclear energy to light sails, from autonomous navigation to onboard artificial intelligence, each chapter explores a piece of humanity’s greatest challenge yet: leaving the Solar System. A blend of science, hope, and future, it helps us understand where we are headed—and why we might get there sooner than we think, if only we dare to will it.

“The exploration of exoplanets offers a chance to journey through astronomy, physics, and astronautics, while reflecting on the historical efforts that have brought us to our current level of knowledge—and, above all, on how much remains to be done.”
— From the preface by Patrizia Caraveo

Albino Carbognani
Albino Carbognani is an astronomer at the Astrophysics and Space Science Observatory of Bologna. He works at the Loiano Astronomical Station in the field of Space Surveillance. He has published several astronomy-related books, including At the Boundaries of the Milky Way and The Asteroid of Sodom and Gomorrah; he writes for the blog asteroidiedintorni and on the INAF Media website.