The universe is slowly fading out, according to a new study of 40,000 galaxies.
Astronomers have discovered that, for billions of years, not enough new 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.
By observing the light from different galaxies the astronomers logged how many young, recently formed stars there were at different times in the universe's 14-billion year history.
Professor Alan Heavens, from Edinburgh University's Institute for Astronomy, who helped carry out the study, said: "Our analysis confirms that the age of star formation is drawing to a close.
"The number of new stars being formed in the huge sample of galaxies we studied has been in decline for around six billion years - roughly since the time our own Sun came into being."
Astronomers are able to look back in time by observing galaxies whose light has taken billions of years to reach the Earth.
Most of the light from young stars is blue. But many galaxies have an overall red rather than blue hue, indicating that most star formation happened long ago.
The astronomers carried out a highly detailed spectral analysis to work out the universe's star formation history.
Their findings will appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on August 21.
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