A giant star ends in about one second: an iron core of roughly 1.4 solar masses loses its support, material rains inward at some 70,000 km/s, then bounces into a shock that hurls the outer layers away at 5,000 to 10,000 km/s. Initial mass decides the ending — 15 solar masses leaves a neutron star, 32 pushes the remnant past the limit and it collapses into a black hole. Type Ia takes another road: a white dwarf crosses the Chandrasekhar threshold and detonates with a peak brightness steady enough to measure distances.
A giant star ends in about one second: an iron core of roughly 1.4 solar masses loses its support, material rains inward at some 70,000 km/s, then bounces into a shock that hurls the outer layers away at 5,000 to 10,000 km/s. Initial mass decides the ending — 15 solar masses leaves a neutron star, 32 pushes the remnant past the limit and it collapses into a black hole. Type Ia takes another road: a white dwarf crosses the Chandrasekhar threshold and detonates with a peak brightness steady enough to measure distances.
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