How Stars Die

The most widespread support is given to the theory that a black hole is the natural end product of a giant star's death.

According to this theory, a star like our Sun and others we see in the sky lives as long as thermal energy and radiation from nuclear reactions in its core provide sufficient outward pressure to counteract the inward pressure of gravity caused by the star's own great mass.

When the star exhausts its nuclear fuels, it succumbs to the forces of its own gravity and literally collapses inward.

According to equations derived from quantum mechanics and Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the star's remaining mass determines whether it becomes a white dwarf, a neutron star, or black hole.