The life trajectory of a stellar nebula is shown. The stellar nebula, a purple gas ball turns into an average star, depicted as a yellow circle, within 500 million years. The average star turns into a red giant, depicted as a medium sized red circle, within 10000 million years. The red giant turns into a planetary nebula, a bright star surrounded by green and blue gases, within 1000 million years. And the planetary nebula gradually cools into a white dwarf, depicted as a small white circle. The stellar nebula can also turn into a massive star, depicted as a medium blue circle, within 0.1 million years. The massive star turns into a red supergiant, depicted as a large orange circle, within 15 million years. The red supergiant turns into a supernova, a bright white star, within 1 million years. The supernova can either turn into a neutron star, depicted as a yellow sphere with white rays coming out of its sides, or a black hole, a small black circle surrounded by purple rays.

Question

Which of these can a star become at the end of its evolution? Choose the three correct answers.

(2 points)
Responses

a brown dwarf
a brown dwarf

a supernova
a supernova

a black hole
a black hole

a white dwarf
a white dwarf

a neutron star
a neutron star

Answer 1

At the end of its evolution, a star can become the following:

1. A white dwarf - This is the end point for average stars after they go through the red giant phase and shed their outer layers.

2. A neutron star - This can result from a supernova explosion of a massive star.

3. A black hole - This can also result from a supernova explosion, but typically for very massive stars.

So the three correct answers are:

• a white dwarf
• a neutron star
• a black hole

(Note: A brown dwarf is not a final stage for a star; it's an object that forms in a similar process to stars but does not sustain hydrogen fusion.)