The death of a stars comes when it can no longer support the nuclear processes within. A star's death may take three forms. It can slowly wither away to become a white dwarf or it may explode in a supernova and become either a neutron star or a black hole. Here, we consider the first two forms and the quantum mechanical processes that contribute to their amazing internal structure.

This work was originally submitted as an essay for a second year astrophysics course taught at The Australian National University by Professor Dayal Wickramasinghe.

© Andrew Wright 1993, 1999