AST-357beginner

Red Giants & Helium Burning: Structures & Vocabulary

A red giant forms when a star exhausts hydrogen in its central core and restructures into a compact inert or helium-rich core surrounded by hydrogen-shell burning and an enormous cool envelope. Red-giant evolution explains future changes in Sun-like stars, helium production of carbon, mass loss, cluster age diagnostics, and the origin of many stellar abundance signatures.

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Red Giants & Helium Burning: Structures & Vocabulary

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AST-356Red Giants & Helium Burning: Foundations→

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AST-358Red Giants & Helium Burning: Physical Mechanisms→

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A red giant forms when a star exhausts hydrogen in its central core and restructures into a compact inert or helium-rich core surrounded by hydrogen-shell burning and an enormous cool envelope.

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When core hydrogen fusion stops, gravity contracts the core and releases energy.

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Cluster H-R diagrams show populated red-giant branches and helium-burning groups at predicted luminosities.