What are the mass limits to determine if a star will collapse to form a white dwarf, neutron star...?

Question

or a black hole?

I am more interested in the mass of a star that would go supernovae to form either a neutron star or a black hole, knowing that a white dwarf would never be formed in a supernovae explosion, but at what stellar mass would it be determined if a star would become either a neutron star or a black hole. I know that all black holes are formed by supernovae explosions, and some neutron stars are formed by either supernovae explosions or from normal stellar collapse if its mass is above a certain limit (uncertain of that limit..was thinking it was 9 solar masses???)

For clarifications, my point being is that not all supernovae explosions create black holes, but would form either a black hole or a neutron star. Is this a correct assumption?

Answer 1

A star's mass must be greater than the 'Chandrasekhar limit' in order to become a black hole when it collapses. That's way way bigger than our sun, many solar masses if I remember correctly. Or not:

The Chandrasekhar limit is the maximum mass which can be supported against gravitational collapse by electron degeneracy pressure. It is commonly given as being about 1.4 or 1.44 solar masses. Computed values for the limit will vary depending on the nuclear composition of the mass and the approximations used. Chandrasekhar[1], eq. (36),[2], eq. (58),[3], eq. (43) gives a value of


Here, μe is the average molecular weight per electron, mH is the mass of the hydrogen atom, and is a constant connected with the solution to the Lane-Emden equation. Numerically, this value is approximately (2/μe)2 · 2.85 · 1030 kg, or , where is the standard solar mass.[4] As is the Planck mass, , the limit is of the order of MPl3/mH2.

As white dwarf stars are supported by electron degeneracy pressure, this is an upper limit for the mass of a white dwarf. Main-sequence stars with a mass exceeding approximately 8 solar masses therefore cannot lose enough mass to form a stable white dwarf at the end of their lives, and instead form either a neutron star or black hole.[5],[6],[7]

Answer 2

I believe the limit is closer to or equal to 5 solar masses for the star to be massive enough to go supernova, and form a neutron star. Only very massive stars, greater than 50 solar masses are believed to form black holes.

Answer 3

The upper limit for forming a white dwarf is about 1.8 times the mass of the Sun.

Upper limit for neutron star forming is about 2.5 times the Sun's mass.

Beyond that, it forms a black hole.

Answer 4

It's not only a matter of a stars mass but also of it's components (heavy metals or not) The critical mass isn't known, we can only try to calulate it, and even that is only a careful estimate.

Answer 5

the life cycle of a star is not determined by a simple calculation based upon mass. there are other factors involved. a good astonomy text that will not only give you an idea of the variables involved in this type of calculation but why they matter is Robert Jastrow's "Astronomy: Fundamentals and Frontiers"