The phoenix is typically seen as a creature of fantastic myth, but that does not mean it has no place in the realms of science and urban legend. Suppose there were a bird that could migrate into space and become dormant for a great length of time. If the gravity of another planet drew it down again, its body would burn up on reentry and it or its offspring would be reborn to populate a new planet.

What if it stores its eggs inside it like a seahorse, and the only way for them to get free is for the bird to get burned up? The shells can be flame retardant, but they need the scorching to help the hatchlings hatch from the thick shell that keeps them safe in space?

Or maybe it's like cybermen and every particle of it creates a new one.

o.o So their eggs are like asteroids... Perhaps they breed on planets with thinner atmospheres, but the young need thicker air to mature... Or the eggs could be laid in space and fall as asteroids...

I might use these and a great deal of other space wildlife in War Blazer. *removes it from the market*

What do they eat?

No idea. I don't have much of their essence worked out yet to know what they ought to be like. They may supplement their diet with minerals found in space, or they may eat creatures that live in space. I can't yet say for certain.

They may burrow into asteroids to keep from being affected by the temperature changes of the sun.

Do they fly with others? Do they mate for life? Do they live in solitude and burn disgraceful planets in their wrath, giving them a god status?

I have to let them steep for a while longer before I'll know that.

Okay.