Look up on a clear night and see the stars strewn about the midnight sky
Pinpoints of light that pierce through space and time
Surrounded by the darkness where stars die
Burning in magnificent radiance with colours on a spectrum from red to blue
Celestial bodies almost as old as time itself
Countless in number they cast their light out on the universe
The sheer size of a star dwarfs even the grandest dreams
Yet in turn they are but just single grains of sand in an infinite sea
Forever drifting within the never-ending cosmos
Reach up on a clear night and touch the stars as they dance across the midnight sky
Twinkling as we bask in their old light
Destined to fade away because eventually even stars die
They burn throughout the ages with unrelenting force as their life slowly drains
Expanding and reddening as they come to an end
Finally giving in to exhaustion before death
Distances between stars so vast one can only see the light from the past as it shines on
Looking out on an unfathomable universe
With only theories born from a limited understanding
Speak to me on a clear night and wish on a star that shines bright in the midnight sky
It’s luminous glow yet to be extinguished
In the cold vacuum of space where stars die
A peaceful death awaits the average star as it casts away its outer layers
In a brilliant display of expanding clouds of gas
Planetary nebulae illuminated by a glowing white corpse
Lingering in existence a white dwarf can only cool over time until it fades to black
The cold hand of death tightens its grip
Squeezing through eternity until the light has gone dark
Search for me on a clear night amongst the lost stars in the midnight sky
There before you yet invisible to the naked eye
As realization sets in that even the greatest of stars die
A violent death awaits the largest stars as they explode in an extraordinary blast
Magnificent blossoms that outshine the galaxies themselves
Leaving behind a heavy heart of a dense neutron corpse
Or a deformity of space and time as the remnant of the star collapses upon itself
A singularity is born that swallows everything in its reach
Where even the light cannot escape only black holes remain
Take my hand on a clear night and let us sail through the sea of stars in the midnight sky
Let us sail toward the infinite horizons outside the law of time
Beyond the bitter cold of a doomed universe
Where stars die
Author’s Note:
I have always been fascinated by space, and the enormity of it. There really is no word to truly describe how huge the cosmic scale is, short of infinite. This piece is about stars, and how they too will die. Not to be a pessimist or anything, I wanted to put it into a certain perspective. Yes, stars are also born from the nebulae created by the dying stars, and it takes billions upon billions of years before the white dwarfs will go dark. Even then, it’s all speculation and theories based on our own understanding of what we know thus far. I left out binary stars (even though they’re very common) because they just wouldn’t fit in.
One aspect of this piece shows the known stellar deaths, in the form of planetary nebulae and supernovae, as well as their “dead” states being white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Black dwarfs among other things were also left out as they are still theoretical, even though it’s hinted at. We’ll learn more about our universe and the stars, as we continue to look up and out on our universe in the years to come. More discoveries will be made as our technology allows, and we’ll have a better understanding of our universe. Perhaps in time some of the known theories will be proven incorrect, but for now it’s what we believe or suspect to be true. This piece reflects on those suspicions, theories, and beliefs of what we know.
The other aspect has to do with looking up at the stars. For as long as we have walked the earth, humans have always looked to the stars. When I am outside at night, I tend to look up as well. I find it gives me peace, as any problems I may have are put into perspective. Other times I wonder, or let my mind wander. Regardless of what runs through my mind, looking up has always been calming for me.
Going back to the piece, at the end it talks about sailing beyond a doomed universe. Could it mean the physical universe that exists outside our planet, or something else…. What do you think of this piece?
What do you see or feel when you look up on a clear night?
N
MyNameIsDespair 