Astro2020: From Stars to Compact Objects: The Initial-Final Mass Relation

Understand

One of the key phases of stellar evolution that remains poorly understood is stellar death.

• We lack a predictive model for how a star of a given mass explodes and what kind of remnant it leaves behind (i.e.
• the initial-final mass relation, IFMR).
• Progress has been limited due to the difficulty in finding and weighing black holes and neutron stars in large numbers.