What is the maximum mass a neutron star can sustain before gravitational collapse continues?

Answer

The Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) limit.

A neutron star, stabilized by neutron degeneracy pressure, possesses an absolute upper limit on how much mass it can support before that quantum pressure fails against gravity. This critical threshold is known in astrophysics as the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) limit. While the exact numerical value is still subject to ongoing theoretical refinement and research, current estimates place this limit around two to three times the mass of the Sun. If the collapsed core material left over from the supernova exceeds this TOV limit, the neutron degeneracy pressure is insufficient to resist gravity, and the object proceeds inevitably to collapse further into a singularity, forming a black hole.

What is the maximum mass a neutron star can sustain before gravitational collapse continues?

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