What types of stars end their lives with supernovae?

1 Answer
Jan 15, 2016

Any star more massive than 8 Suns will go supernova.

Explanation:

This cutoff is slightly dependent on the metallicity of the star i.e. the fraction of atoms that aren't Hydrogen and Helium (to Astronomers, 'meatals' are elements heavier than Helium). Still, you can bet that a star 10 or more solar masses will eventually go supernova.