Aging Into Gianthood
When our Sun approaches its red giant phase some 6 billion years from now, it will run out of fuel in its core. As hydrogen fusion slows, the core once again begins to contract. As the core gets smaller, it heats up until can kick off another round of nuclear reactions, fusing helium into heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. The hotter core also makes hydrogen fuse in the “shell” of material surrounding the core. Meanwhile, extra heat produced deep within in the star causes its outer layer of gas to puff up.
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