What are the criteria for a star to become a supernova?

Answer 1

Any star that is 8 times more massive than our Sun has the potential to become Supernova. Due to the gravitation force of the star it gets compressed till thermonuclear reactions set in releasing a lot of energy. In this process the hydrogen burns up first and releases Helium. Helium burns up to release Carbon. This process continues till the core primarily gets converted to iron. Once the center of the star consists of iron, no more energy can be extracted. The star's core then has no resistance to the force of gravity, and once it starts to contract a very rapid collapse will take place. The protons and electrons combine to give a core composed of neutrons and a vast amount of gravitational energy is released. This energy is sufficient to blow away all the outer parts of the star in a violent explosion and the star becomes a supernova. The light of this one star at its peak during the explosion is then about as bright as that from all the other 100,000,000,000 stars in the host galaxy.

Answer 2

Essentially, it's mass. Our sun doesn't have the mass necessary to become a supernova. Stars 3 to 8 times bigger (and larger still) - do.

Answer 3

for a star to become a supernova .First it must be a very massive star,several times the weight of our sun.
Then it must be at the end of its life.The gravity will implode it first and then the pressure will explode it,thus a supernova

Answer 4

when a star burns off most of its fuel it doesn't have enough mass to support its own weight to keep the nuclear fission in check then explodes into a supernova

Answer 5

There are more than one kind of supernova. Here's a good write up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova