the galaxy is up to 400 billions systems, it's huge, and the scale is 1:1 so you better be ready, exploration ain't just something you do in 1, hour, 1 day ... no ! when you start exploring, you're gone for at least a week if you want to be efficient, and it's frustrating enought if you're going unprepared so here's the simple rules to follow for a safe and efficient exploration session :

1 - the ship : without the proper ship you ain't gonna make it, unless you're patient as ♥♥♥♥, here are the best ships you can pick for exploration

=> the DBX aka DiamondBack Explorer : as its name say it, he's made up for exploration, a basic fuel tank of 32 you can boost up to 50+ fuel tank capacity, don't go for more, or you're FSD range will be smaller ( what's the FSD ? => it's your engine that allow you to make jumps from system to system, the better it is, the farthest you'll be able to jump )

here you can find more details about the DBX : http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Diamondback_Explorer

=> the AX aka Asp Explorer : basically the apex of exploration's ship, optimized fuel tank, best jump range, the difference between asp and db is the price

here are the details about the AX : http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Asp_Explorer

2 : now you got the proper ship, how should i outtfit the ship ?

the build of the DBX and AX are quiet similar aside from their classe's, here's what you should get

- the power plant : look for the best heat efficiency you can find, exploration mean fuel scooping, mean you'll get close to the sun, mean you'll get heat.

- the FSD : simple, the one that allow you to jump the farthest

- the fuel scoop : simple, the one that got the best fuel T/s rate

- the fuel tank : for the DBX aim for a supply of 50+, for the AX, the aim should be 64+ don't go for more, you must give priority to the FSD jump range and your fuel scoop.

- Advanced discovery scanner : yeah what's the point of exploration if you don't discover things ? this one's the best simply because you know ... infinite scanning range / system ?

- a shield / bi weave shield if it really bother you NOT to have one ( preferably the weaker you can find )

3 : allright let's go .... HOLD IT !

before going to explore the wild unknow, filter your cartographic map for scoopable sun, because not all the suns can be scooped, would be a shame if you end up with an empty fuel tank in a system with unscoopable sun ain't it ? only solution would be to start auto destruction and you know ... die, rebuy your ship and cry on all the exploration date you just lost and ( optional) ragequit the game once and for all ? yeah would be a shame, so here how it's done :

the fuelrats explain perfectly how to filter for scoopable sun so i'll just redirect you with a link right here on how to properly filter :

http://fuelrats.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FilteringScoopables_instructions.jpg


so, you got the ship, you got the gear, and you got the good map filters, yeah now you're ready to go ! head for wherever you wanna go and come back safe and sound ... oh almost forgot, play exploration in solo mode, it's not like you gonna cross the path of anyone while exploring at 10000 + light years away of SOL, but when you come back to sell your data, you better not cross the path of a low self esteem tryhard that will blow you up for "fun" while you be ragequitting, so don't be that stupid and stay safe in solo until you've sold all dem data, oh and btw if you are rank 5 merits with li yong-rui, sell your data to one of his controlled system's station, else sell them wherever you want.

that's all for now commanders, fly safe.