"Ghosts of Stellar Death" 24" x 30" Acrylic © 1/96

Stars do not last forever. They too are born, live, and eventually die. As a normal star nears the end of its life it swells to many times its original size becoming a "red giant" engulfing any planet that may orbit too closely. Then the star collapses becoming a tiny incredibly dense object known as a "white dwarf" which cools like a dying ember. At some point, and for reasons poorly understood, the star ejects rings, arcs, or clouds of gaseous material. In this painting we stand on the surface of a once inhabited world that barely survived the red giant stage. As the star has cooled the remains of the planets' atmosphere have frozen onto the surface. Our sun is but a typical star. Thus, this scene could represent the earth as it might look eons from now.

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