Debra Runnells, age 11, of San Diego, Calif., for her question:

How can we see star that died long ago?

It takes a beam of light about one year to travel six million million miles. This is a 6 followed by 12 zeros; which is one light year. When we gaze at a star, We see light that set out toward us many years ago. It takes light from the bright Star Sirius about Eight years to reach us  and Sirius is one of the sun's closest Neighbors. Many stars are hundreds and perhaps thousands of light years away. We see these stars not as they are tonight, but as they were when their light set out toward us hundreds or thousands of years ago. In the meantime, some of these. stars may have exploded andsome may have died.