The main reason for a kernel to panic in my experience is that it cannot find a root filesystem to mount. If there's no functionable user root file system, it can't transfer or pivot from the small linux system in RAM that it creates in its first stage of booting, to the filesystem it's supposed to work with run by the user. It uses the initrd or initramfs in the temporary small linux system in RAM as an initial root filesystem, but then needs to pivot onto the user's root filesystem which is the one that becomes visible in the terminal when the user changes directory to root /. So, anything that disorders the initrd or initramfs will likely cause a kernel panic. Usually when this sort of kernel panic occurs, the kernel will print to the screen a message saying that it can't find a root file system. If that message does not appear, then it may or may not be that issue. The problem there is that the kernel has stopped and so it can't message everything about its own behaviour any more.
In the case of the OP's issue, I guess I'd be trying to make sure that the initramfs image is sound which I'd first do by recreating it with the appropriate tools provided by the distro. I'd check the memory with memtest86+. If the kernel panic has left a core dump then there are ways of debugging that, but it requires some advanced tools and knowledge.
As mentioned, there are many other possibilities implicated in a kernel panic, but I only have the experience that I've mentioned.