Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae
Okay kiddo, so imagine there's a big star in space that's shining really bright. It's so bright because it's burning gas, kind of like a really big stove.
Now, when a star like this runs out of gas, it can start to collapse in on itself because there's no more heat and light to push back against gravity.
If the star wasn't too big to begin with, it will collapse down into a tiny ball of gas that's called a white dwarf. It's called a white dwarf because it used to shine really bright like a star, but now it's very small and not very hot anymore, so it's white and faint.
But sometimes a star that's much bigger than our sun will collapse down even more than a white dwarf. It will get squeezed so hard that the electrons and protons squish together and turn into neutrons. This creates a super-dense ball of neutrons that's called a neutron star.
A neutron star is really weird, kiddo. It's so dense that a pea-sized piece of it would weigh as much as a mountain on Earth! It also spins really fast and shoots out beams of energy, kind of like a lighthouse. We call these beams pulsars.
Okay, but sometimes when a star is REALLY big, like many, many times bigger than our sun, it won't just collapse into a white dwarf or neutron star. It'll go out with a huge explosion called a supernova!
During a supernova, the star's core collapses and gets super hot and dense, and then it explodes outward in a big burst of energy. After the explosion, what's left behind can be a neutron star or something even weirder, like a black hole.
But don't worry, kiddo, none of this will happen to our sun for billions and billions of years. So we don't have to worry about it for a loooong time.
Now, when a star like this runs out of gas, it can start to collapse in on itself because there's no more heat and light to push back against gravity.
If the star wasn't too big to begin with, it will collapse down into a tiny ball of gas that's called a white dwarf. It's called a white dwarf because it used to shine really bright like a star, but now it's very small and not very hot anymore, so it's white and faint.
But sometimes a star that's much bigger than our sun will collapse down even more than a white dwarf. It will get squeezed so hard that the electrons and protons squish together and turn into neutrons. This creates a super-dense ball of neutrons that's called a neutron star.
A neutron star is really weird, kiddo. It's so dense that a pea-sized piece of it would weigh as much as a mountain on Earth! It also spins really fast and shoots out beams of energy, kind of like a lighthouse. We call these beams pulsars.
Okay, but sometimes when a star is REALLY big, like many, many times bigger than our sun, it won't just collapse into a white dwarf or neutron star. It'll go out with a huge explosion called a supernova!
During a supernova, the star's core collapses and gets super hot and dense, and then it explodes outward in a big burst of energy. After the explosion, what's left behind can be a neutron star or something even weirder, like a black hole.
But don't worry, kiddo, none of this will happen to our sun for billions and billions of years. So we don't have to worry about it for a loooong time.