Mass: the most important factor in determining the life of a star.
A star's mass gives a measure of the amount of "fuel", and its luminosity gives a measure of the rate at which this "fuel" is consumed by nuclear burning, so a star's lifetime is proportional to its Mass divided by its Luminosity.
Which is most important in determining the fate of a star? The fundamental property of stars which determines where a star will fall along the main sequence its lifetime rate of evolution and ultimate fate — whether explosive or quiet is a star's mass.
The amount of mass a star has determines which of the following life cycle paths it will take from there. The life cycle of a low mass star (left oval) and a high mass star (right oval).
The primary factor determining how a star evolves is its mass as it reaches the main sequence.
Astronomers classify stars according to their physical characteristics. Characteristics used to classify stars include color, temperature, size, composition, and brightness. Stars vary in their chemical composition.
If the neutron star is more than about three solar masses then the pressure exceeds the neutron degeneracy pressure. This causes the neutron star to collapse into a black hole.
Mass is the most important stellar property. This is because a star's life is a continuous fight against gravity, and gravity is directly related to mass. The more massive a star is, the stronger its gravity. Mass therefore determines how strong the gravitational force is at every point within the star.
Its total mass is the main factor determining its evolution and eventual fate. A star shines for most of its active life due to the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core. This process releases energy that traverses the star's interior and radiates into outer space.
The primary factor driving stellar evolution is the star's mass. Stars form from the gravitational collapse of cool, dense molecular clouds. As the cloud collapses, smaller regions form, which combine to form stellar cores. The star forms, and then will change based on its mass.
Theoretical calculations suggest that, as the star evolves from the main sequence, the hydrogen-helium core gradually increases in mass but shrinks in size as more and more helium ash is fed in through the outer hydrogen-burning shell. Energy is carried outward from the shell by rapid convection currents.
About 75% of the mass of the star is ejected into space in the supernova. The fate of the left-over core depends on its mass. If the left-over core is about 1.4 to 5 times the mass of our Sun, it will collapse into a neutron star. If the core is larger, it will collapse into a black hole.