We will begin with the Big Bang and learn about the universe's earliest stars, which burned bright and died young (relatively).  Then, we'll move into the Interstellar Medium, where matter is many times thinner than on the top of Mt. Everest and discuss how this ultra-thin veil of gas and dust can give way to massive stars with thermonuclear reactions powering their cores.  Life on the Main Sequence is long, but gives way to a retirement of expansion into the giant (or supergiant) phase and...