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Exploding Star May Be Seen From Earth
fjordboy writes "The star Rho Cas, which can be seen by the naked eye from the Northern Hemisphere, is showing signs that it may be exploding in the near future. Rho exploded in 2000, creating a cloud of gas over 10,000 times the size of earth (which isn't all that large in space scales), however, the same star is showing signs of collapsing which may point to a much larger explosion in the near future, which should be large enough to be seen by backyard astronomers with little to no specialized equipment. MSNBC has more info, Space.com also has the story here and here."
So, is this a black hole waiting to happen?
It depends on what's left after the supernova explosion. If the mass of the remnant is less than 1.4 solar, it's a white dwarf. If it's more than 1.4 and less than 3.2 solar, it's a neutron star. If it's more than 3.2 solar, it's a black hole