Question: What exactly is a neutron star ? My understanding of it is that it's part of the star cycle. Reply if I'm correct or correct me

Miranda Jackson answered on 22 Jun 2015:

You are correct that neutron stars are part of the star life cycle. Only stars that are initially 8-12 times the mass of the sun will explode in a supernova and become neutron stars once they burn all their fuel. Other, lower mass stars, such as the sun, will eventually shrink to white dwarfs without exploding, and more massive stars will supernova and become black holes. Stars much more massive than 20 suns will completely explode, and will not leave behind any part of the core at all.

Neutron stars are the leftover cores of massive stars. They are composed almost entirely of neutrons, and are 1-2 times as massive as the sun and only 13-16 km in radius. Most of the original star is blown away in the supernova explosion.