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You are here: Home / Space / How Does a Star’s Life End, How Do Stars Die, and What Determines If a Star Will Become a Black Hole?

How Does a Star’s Life End, How Do Stars Die, and What Determines If a Star Will Become a Black Hole?

August 4, 2020 by Karen Hill

The end of a star’s life depends on its mass.

Small stars die pretty quietly, becoming planetary nebulae, white dwarfs, and then black dwarfs.

Very large stars explode in supernovae, possibly turning into neutron stars or black holes.

Most of the matter in the star is blown away by the supernovae explosion forming nebulae, and what remains will be a neutron star.

The blown-off outer layers of dying stars include heavy elements which are often recycled during new star formation.

These heavy elements allow the formation of planets.

Related Facts

  • How Do Stars Become Black Holes and When Was the First Black Hole Discovered?
  • Who Discovered Black Holes and Where do Black Holes come from?
  • How do astronomers know how far away stars and galaxies are from earth?
  • Why Is a Black Hole Black, Where Do Black Holes Come From, and When Were Black Holes First Discovered?
  • Who discovered that Planets Exist Around Other Stars in the Universe and When?
  • How is the Universe expanding and Who discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating?

Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Is a Nova, How Do Stars Become Novae, What Is the Temperature of a Nova?
Next Post: What Is a White Dwarf, How Does a Star Become a White Dwarf, and How Dense Is a White Dwarf? »

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