Suggestion: At the start of a new game, make the systems within reach of your ships pre-explored.
Reason: The first decisions of the game include choosing where to send your starting ships, (which includes a colony ship). The effect of colonising the best available planet, within range, at the start of the game is magnitudes greater than colonising a planet later in the game. A few turns difference to using that first colony ship counts. I find that I start a new game, scout the starting systems, and then reload to get the best choice. Having to move fairly blindly makes those first moves either a lottery or a save/load situation. Relying on star descriptions isn't enough.
Example in attached image.
There are two stars. The yellow star gives a human colony to annex. The red star, despite the description, gives a medium garden world with natives to colonise. The colony ship should go to the red star and another ship to the yellow star. This gives you 3 systems on turn 3. Sending the colony ship anywhere else or not moving it delays you by 3 - 6 turns. The star descriptions prove useless in making the initial movement decisions.