Lights out as too few stars born

THE universe is slowly fading out, according to a study of 40,000 galaxies.

Astronomers discovered that for billions of years not enough stars have been born to replace those that are dying.

The results show that the cosmos is gradually getting dimmer, and in time no stars will be left shining.

Professor Alan Heavens, from Edinburgh University’s Institute for Astronomy, helped to carry out the study.

He said: “The age of star formation is drawing to a close. The number of new stars being formed has been in decline for around six billion years.”

Most of the light from young stars is blue. But many galaxies have an overall red hue, indicating most star formation happened long ago.