Vertex-star cover obstruction to compactness

The topological realization of a simplicial complex with infinitely many vertices is not compact. Its vertex open star in a simplicial complex form an open cover, but a vertex belongs only to its own star. Thus every finite collection of vertex stars omits all the other vertices. The argument uses the weak topology of a simplicial realization, in which a vertex star is open because its complement is the realization of the subcomplex of simplices missing that vertex. No local finiteness assumption is required.