The maximum mass of a neutron star is not well known. In 1939, it was estimated at 0.7 solar masses, called the
TOV limit. In 1996, a different estimate put this upper mass in a range from 1.5 to 3 solar masses.
[3]
In the theory of
general relativity, a black hole could exist of any mass. The lower the mass, the higher the density of matter has to be in order to form a black hole. (See, for example, the discussion in
Schwarzschild radius, the radius of a black hole.) There are no known processes that can produce black holes with mass less than a few times the mass of the Sun. If they exist, they are most likely
primordial black holes. The largest known stellar black hole (as of 2007) is 15.65±1.45 solar masses.
[4] Additionally, there is evidence that the IC 10 X-1 X-ray source is a stellar black hole with a probable mass of 24–33 solar masses.
[5] As of April 2008,
XTE J1650-500 was reported by
NASA[6] and others
[7][8] to be the smallest mass black hole currently known to science, with a mass 3.8 solar masses and a diameter of only 15 miles (24 kilometers). However, this claim was subsequently retracted. The more likely mass is 5–10 solar masses.