What distinguishes the timescale required for setting up a Type Ia supernova versus a core-collapse supernova?
Answer
The white dwarf progenitor system requires potentially billions of years of setup time, much longer than the core-collapse progenitor.
Stars destined for core-collapse burn rapidly, dying in millions of years. In contrast, the white dwarf that causes a Type Ia event may have taken billions of years to evolve from its main sequence phase and then potentially billions more years accreting mass to reach the explosion threshold.
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