The Star (Clarke short story)

The group's chief astrophysicist, a Jesuit priest, is suffering from a deep crisis of faith, triggered by some undisclosed event during the journey.

Recognizing several generations in advance that their star would soon explode, and with no means of interstellar travel to save themselves, the doomed people spent their final years building a vault on the outermost planet in their solar system, whose Pluto-like orbit was distant enough to survive the supernova.

The Earth explorers, particularly the astrophysicist-priest, were deeply moved by these artifacts, and they found themselves identifying closely with the dead race's peaceful, human-like culture and the profound grace they exhibited in the face of their cruel fate.

What was the need to give these people to the fire, that the symbol of their passing might shine above Bethlehem?The story was later dramatized as part of a Christmas episode of The Twilight Zone in 1985.

[2] The episode's screenwriter, Alan Brennert, later commented that "Over the years I've taken a little bit of heat from certain fans in the science fiction community for changing the ending of this story.