Star collapse to form directly a black hole

[shounakbhatta]

Hello,

Does a star collapse directly to form a black hole without creating a supernova or whether a supernova forms some neutron stars which after crossing the TOV limit forms a black hole?

Thanks.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Nobody knows.
It seems unlikely that a body massive enough to form a black hole will not also pass through an explosive stage, maybe a supernova, by much the same mechanism as the formation of neutron stars. We know that supernovae leave behind very collapsed objects but we do not know that all collapsed objects form from supernovae.

For instance, it may be possible for a black hole to form by cannibalism of close stars by a big one. In that case, matter gets added gradually. But you'd still think the big final collapse would release a lot of energy in one go.

There's also supermassive and primordial black holes ... the area is quite open.

 

[Chronos]

It is generally believed that very massive stars can skip the whole supernova thing and directly collapse into a black hole - http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/522/1/413/fulltext/40269.text.html

 

[Simon Bridge]

Oh cool! Reading material <reads> thanks...