What happens when a star is fusioned?
Fusion inside stars transforms hydrogen into helium, heat, and radiation. Heavier elements are created in different types of stars as they die or explode.
What is the process of combining protons and neutrons together?
Andrew Zimmerman Jones. Updated May 30, 2019. Stellar nucleosynthesis is the process by which elements are created within stars by combining the protons and neutrons together from the nuclei of lighter elements. All of the atoms in the universe began as hydrogen. Fusion inside stars transforms hydrogen into helium, heat, and radiation.
How did hydrogen and helium form?
Hydrogen formed pretty much instantly and even helium (with nuclei containing 2 protons) formed in relatively short order (part of a process referred to as Big Bang nucleosynthesis). As this hydrogen and helium began to form in the early universe, there were some areas where it was denser than in others.
How is helium fusion made?
Largely, it is fused into carbon via the triple-alpha process in which three helium-4 nuclei (alpha particles) are transformed. The alpha process then combines helium with carbon to produce heavier elements, but only those with an even number of protons.
How long does it take for a star to burn?
The energy released during this process is what causes the sun (or any other star, for that matter) to burn. It takes nearly 10 million years to burn through the hydrogen and then things heat up and the helium begins fusing.
What is the process of atoms forming in space?
Once these clouds became large enough, they were drawn together by gravity with enough force to actually cause the atomic nuclei to fuse, in a process called nuclear fusion.
What is the alpha process?
The alpha process then combines helium with carbon to produce heavier elements, but only those with an even number of protons. The combinations go in this order: Carbon plus helium produces oxygen. Oxygen plus helium produces neon. Neon plus helium produces magnesium. Magnesium plus helium produces silicon.