Fusion Lighting the Stars by Rob Rey

Title:	Fusion Lighting the Stars
Date Created:	May 2020
Copyright:	© Rob Rey
Genre:	Fantasy
Mediums:	Oils
Views:	369
Posted:	12/3/2020

Projects: Abend Gallery, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Upper Deck, Star Wars Trading Card Game, HEX Online Card Game

Location: Centennial, CO

Stars are continuous nuclear explosions! Not simply fixed masses of hot gas, stars are a balance of two enormous forces: gravity and nuclear fusion. On its own, gravity would crush a star into the oblivion of a black hole or other super-dense entity. But nuclear fusion pushes back, releasing so much energy that the outer layers of the star are literally blown away, aloft from the core, and in equilibrium with gravity. From lightyears away, these cataclysmic explosions flutter as faint candles in our night sky. 

Stars live a looong time, billions of years, but eventually the fuel of fusion runs out and gravity prevails. In the span of the universe, stars exist as temporary states of matter that will one day transition into other things. Much of their mass will be crushed. But in the process, many will fuse carbon, the other elements of life, and form planetary nebula. Later, these nebula will condense into new solar systems, and perhaps be part of some other temporary state of matter lucky enough to be able think about it.