THE WHOLE Universe consists of cycles, from the largest galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle; everything goes around and comes around. The stars go through their lives in a very similar manner to us.
They are born from the chaos of dust and gas and through their lives they produce energy, they also grow larger around the middle as they enter their later years, and when they die they are recycled back into to the universe to help create new stars.
The very simplest definition of life is the ability to create order from chaos, and stars and humans are capable of doing that. Everything has its period of development, then domination and then decline. For stars this is measured in billions of years and for humans rather less than one hundred.
Mighty empires have risen and fallen, wonderful inventions have appeared and eventually become obsolete, bad times come and then they go. Even the very atoms that make up every bit of matter has a finite lifetime – they were created in the Big Bang and will evaporate in around 10 with a hundred zeros, years. And then what? Most probably it will all start again. So what does this all mean? As an astronomer I like to see the big picture and it is quite clear that all material things are limited in the long run, and I am not too concerned about that, as 10 with a hundred zeros years is quite long enough for me!
In practical terms, all this means that it is not what you are that is important, it is what you do that really matters. In the end, energy wins out over material every time and our destiny is to make the most what we have for the benefit of all.
