Stellar Remnants

[Matterwave]

Hey guys, quick question, I know that the usual stellar remnants are the White Dwarf, Neutron Star, and Black Hole, depending on the initial mass of the Star. I was wondering if some Super-Novas could be so catastrophic that the entire star, including its degenerate core was disrupted so that there would be no remnant (it was all blasted out into space)? Is that possible, or does every star necessarily evolve into one of those three?

[phyzguy]

In fact, that's exactly what happens in a Type 1A supernova - the star basically blows itself apart without leaving a massive remnant,

[Matterwave]

But a Type 1A supernova originates from a binary between a White Dwarf and another star that's losing mass to this white dwarf. The white dwarf was the stellar remnant, and then the SN destroys it.

My question was more along the lines of a single star that could be completely obliterated by the core-collapse supernova. Perhaps my question wasn't specific enough.

Thanks for your input though. :)

[phyzguy]

I think a core collapse supernova always leaves a remnant - either a neutron star or a black hole.

[Chronos]

A stellar fragment [e.g., neutron star] normally remains after a core collapse, but, is not guaranteed. It is possible an assymetric collapse may not leave a condensed matter fragment.

[Vanadium 50]

Indeed, in the early days of SN modeling one of the big problems was to leave a remnant. The models were predicting no remnants once the explosive energy got anywhere near 1050 or 1051.

[Arch2008]

IIRC, rare super massive stars create a runaway particle-antiparticle reaction in their cores which rip them apart from the inside out, so that there is no remnant.

[Matterwave]

hmm interesting...I may look some of this stuff up...somewhere... XD

Thanks.

[Arch2008]

You're welcome! Here's an article about these stars:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/12/supergiant-star-destroyed-by-antimatter-triggered-meganukeweve-just-seen-the-largest-explosion-ever-recorded-a-supergiant-st.html

[SpiffyKavu]

Those stars Arch2008 mentioned result in a "pair-instability" supernova. They are thought to result from stars with masses greater than about 140 solar masses. These stars do not really form in today's universe due to enrichment of heavy metals (elements heavier than helium). These heavy elements act as opacity sources, effectively limiting the possible size of a forming star.

There was a report late last year about a possible observation of a pair-instability supernova:

Supernova 2007bi as a pair-instability explosion (http://arxiv.org/abs/1001.1156)