The core issue is what the requisites are for consciousness. Some believe it requires a brain. Others --more conversant with the boundless immaterial aspects of consciousness--assert that only a being is needed for consciousness to occur. This assumes a state of being that is not the product of material structures. There is some evidence for this interpretation, but some find this extremely uncomfortable as it interferes with both classical materialism and a variety of standard religious model.

The argument from such an interpretation might be that since a star is a material phenomenon it cannot in itself be conscious, not being a being. On the other hand there is no reason a being couldn't spend an indeterminate amount of time just being a star.

So the answer would be "sometimes", I guess. Or perhaps "it depends".

A