Question

Stellar evolution calculations suggest that solar metallicity stars with Mi ≲ 22Mʘ will become neutron stars and stars above this limit will end their lives as black holes. In which direction would this limit change if all massive stars were rapidly rotating?

Answer 1

The massive star collapse because their high gravity can not be supported by pressure generated by the gases present in the star, and energy released by the nuclear fission going in the core. Now, the rotation of a star provides a centripetal force which plays an important role in balancing the gravity as the centripetal force acts in opposite direction to that of the gravity. If a star rotates with higher angular velocity, it has higher centripetal force, and it takes higher gravity to collapse the star.

So if the massive stars were rapidly rotating, the limit will move upward, that is, stars with solar masses greater than even 22M0 will not become black holes.