Physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking passed away yesterday at the age of 76, after a 55-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Hawking was “an iconic figure in both the scientific community and in popular culture, known for his keen mind and humor, as well as his striking physical challenges … Among his most important scientific contributions are his singularity theorems, which help explain concepts like the beginning of time,” the Wall Street Journal writes of the University of Cambridge professor. The New York Times also has a lengthy but solid obituary, while Egyptian artist Sherif Arafa paid homage to cosmology’s brightest star with the above illustration.