Cuarenta maneras de conocer una estrella

Humanity has witnessed the explosive and devastating end of some stars, both in the time of ancient civilizations and with modern technology. Through observations and the most advanced models of these cataclysms, we have learned to interpret what remains after these explosions, if anything; how the chemical elements of this planet were formed; and how much Earth's gold and silver owe to the end of stars. There are stars that change in brightness over time, some at such predictable intervals that we have been able to use them as indicators of distances within a universe that, thanks to them, has revealed itself to be far larger than we imagined. Stars have taught us that the universe contains invisible components far more abundant than those we can see, and their brightness has revealed how galaxies formed and how they have changed over cosmic time.