Celmins has created numerous drawings, paintings and prints based on photographic records of star fields since the early 1970s, with only minute differences between them. Repetition and similarity are important aspects of her work. She explains: "I tend to do images over and over again because each one has a different tone, slant, a different relationship to the plane, and so a different meaning". 'Falling Stars' is one of a series of five prints made in 2010 in which Celmins explored her fascination with the intricacies and complexities of the natural world, and the similarities between the micro- and the macrocosm. The other prints in the series are 'Reverse Galaxy', 'Divided Night Sky', 'Dark Galaxy' and 'Web Ladder'.