The material describes a lifecycle where hydrogen fusion is followed by an explosion and then a black hole. Which option best summarizes this described lifecycle?

The material describes a lifecycle where hydrogen fusion is followed by an explosion and then a black hole. Which option best summarizes this described lifecycle?

• A. Hydrogen fusion → Supernova → Black hole
• B. Hydrogen fusion → White dwarf
• C. Hydrogen fusion → Neutron star
• D. Hydrogen fusion → Nova

Answer: (A)

Massive stars fuse hydrogen in their cores for most of their lives, and as they burn through heavier elements, their cores eventually become unable to support themselves. When this happens, the core collapses violently in a supernova, blasting the outer layers into space. If the collapsed core is still very massive, gravity wins and it becomes a black hole. So the described lifecycle—hydrogen fusion, followed by a supernova, then a black hole—fits the fate of the most massive stars. (Less massive stars end as white dwarfs after shedding their outer shells, and a nova is a surface explosion on a white dwarf in a binary system, not the end state of a massive star.)

Massive stars fuse hydrogen in their cores for most of their lives, and as they burn through heavier elements, their cores eventually become unable to support themselves. When this happens, the core collapses violently in a supernova, blasting the outer layers into space. If the collapsed core is still very massive, gravity wins and it becomes a black hole. So the described lifecycle—hydrogen fusion, followed by a supernova, then a black hole—fits the fate of the most massive stars. (Less massive stars end as white dwarfs after shedding their outer shells, and a nova is a surface explosion on a white dwarf in a binary system, not the end state of a massive star.)