The Star (short story)
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The Star is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke that appeared in the science fiction magazine Infinity Science Fiction in 1955 and won the Hugo award in 1956.
[edit] Synopsis
The Star is the story of a group of space explorers from Earth who travel to a destroyed civilization in a star system far away from our sun. Their chief astrophysicist, a Jesuit priest, finds out that the planet was destroyed long ago when its sun went supernova. The planet's culture was very similar to Earth's, and the scientists begin to identify with the people who once resided there. He calculates the year that the planet's sun went supernova -- so long ago that the emitted light would reach Earth in exactly 1 AD. It was, in fact, the very star, or the very supernova, that compelled the wise men on Earth thousands of years ago to travel to see the Child Jesus. The scientist's faith is shaken because of the apparent cruelty of God.
The story was later dramatised as a Christmas episode of The Twilight Zone. Although the original story ended on a negative note, this version had a more upbeat ending.
