Life of a High Mass Star

Main Sequence

The star is blue and very luminous. It burns Hydrogen in its core.

Red Supergiant

Becomes this after the Hydrogen is all burnt out. The star continues to contract and expand and get hotter, fusing different elements until it reaches iron. H, He, C, Ne, Mg, … , Fe

Supernova

When the core stops fusing and collapses in on itself hard enough because gravity wins, a supernova happens with massive shockwaves.

Neutron Star

After the supernova, if the star is less than 25 solar masses it will become a neutron star. They have a high density and are supported by neutron degeneracy pressure. Some are pulsars that emit beams of radiation because they rotate so fast. They are made mostly of Neutrons. 10 km in size

Black Hole

If the star is above 25 Solar Masses, it will form a black hole which has such high gravity because it is so dense that even light cannot escape. 3 properties: mass, angular momentum, charge