An erupting, massive star in the Milky Way. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified one of the most massive stars known, emitting as much as 10 million times the power of our Sun and with a radius larger than the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
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Image courtesy of NASA, Space Telescope Institute
Fusion Inside the Stars
Fusion in the core of stars is reached when the density and temperature are high enough. There are different fusion cycles that happen in different phases of the life of a star. These different cycles make the different elements we know. The first fusion cycle makes Helium. This is the stage that our Sun is in.
In stars with a very high temperature there are other fusion cycles(CNO cycle). At still higher temperatures, the fusion of Helium makes Carbon. Finally, at even higher temperatures elements like Iron are made.
The fusion reactions in stars make
neutrinos that reach Earth. By detecting these neutrinos, scientists learn about fusion inside the stars.
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