Chandrasekhar limit


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Equal to 1.4 solar masses, the maximum mass a dying star may have and still turn into a white dwarf star. Dying stars with masses greater than 1.4 solar masses collapse into neutron stars or black holes. Subrahamanyan Chadrasekhar, at age 19 in 1930, worked out this limiting mass while on a steamship to England, where he planned to present his astrophysical work.