Nothing lasts forever. Even the stars in space have a beginning and an end. The length of time that a star shines is based on the amount of material and energy it contains which is also referred to as its mass. Stars shine by changing its lightest material into something heavier. This initially begins by converting hydrogen into helium through a process called nuclear fusion. It also releases massive amounts of energy which we see as (sun or) star light. But every star has a finite amount of hydrogen and once it is depleted the star's fate is based on the mass of what it still possesses.

Space telescopes designed to observe distant planets need to be powerful, but they also need some method of blocking the light from the parent star, which completely washes out any dimmer objects orbiting it. A strategy from CU-Boulder professor Webster Cash would use a large, daisy-shaped space shield to block the light from the star. A space telescope trailing the shade by thousands of kilometres would then be able to see much fainter objects surrounding the star