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Old 12-20-2006
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Diana Diana is offline
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I think, (if I remember right) that the mass limit is somewhere around 150 solar masses. But not all stars that exeed mass limit will become black holes.

The Chandra limit is the maximum mass of a white dwarf star. At the end of a star's life, when most of its energy is gone, it begins to collapse. If the mass of the star is below the Chandra limit, the star becomes a white dwarf and continues to burn. If it exceeds the limit, its gravity will overcome pressure inside the star, and it will continue to collapse into a neutron star or a black hole.


The article that Dragon Star provided mentions this:
Quote:
Although the stars are still among the heaviest known, the mass limit has not been broken thanks to the multiplicity of the system.....



Diana
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