ether to form an ultracollapsed neutron star or so-called black hole, or to somehow simply dissipate in the universe does not appear to be precisely known. However, the fact that in February 1987 a burst of neutrino radiation was recorded by underground detectors tended to confirm the theory of ultracollapse as the principal precursor feature of supernova explosion (Cowen 120; Grifols 386). The supernova phenomenon appears to occur toward the endpoint of nucleosynthesis, or the multiple nuclear reactions that make up the life of a star. Nucleosynthesis is also associated with the Big Bang theory of the formation of the universe, i.e., a massive nuclear explosion of stellar material whose consequence was the formation of a chemically and then biologically diverse cosmos. A useful explanation of the Big Bang is offered by Sagan:
All the matter and energy now in the universe was concentrated at extremely high density-a kind of cosmic egg . . . perhaps into a mathematical point with no dimensions at all. . . . [T]he entire universe, matter and energy and the space they fill, occupied a very small volume. In that titanic cosmic explosion, the universe began an expansion which has never ceased (Sagan 246).
The supernova phenomenon duplicates the form of the Big Bang but on a smaller cosmic scale, with a star's (remaining) matter, energy, and space compressed to a very small volume until the force of the fusion creates a great explosion, or inflation. The detritus of such explosions, unlike the original Big Bang, has a place to go: outer space. Just how they go there, however, like the Big Bang theory itself, is a matter of scientific dispute, or more exactly a lack of consensus, owing to the difficulties associated with making conclusions as a result of cosmic observations.
One view is that they form black holes, i.e., compress further, absorbing cosmic matter and space and gravity instead of distributing and diffusing through space....