Submitted by AutoModerator t3_125oxyo in askscience
Front_Card_2371 t1_je5e5xt wrote
I heard at startalk from Neil Tyson that after fusion of hydrogen it will fuse Helium then carbon etc upto Iron with favourable conditions before becoming supernova( bam). My question is why would the Sun will become red giant? Shouldn’t it shrink in size to continue fusion due to more pressure?
nivlark t1_je5exqp wrote
That will never happen to the Sun. It isn't massive enough to continue fusion beyond carbon. This site has detailed explanations of how the Sun and other kinds of stars evolve.
Front_Card_2371 t1_je5h0a7 wrote
Thank you very much this was eye opening
Weed_O_Whirler t1_je5nsop wrote
The Sun will not supernova, but it will red giant. The reason being as the sun "uses up" it's hydrogen (in reality, it will only fuse about 10% of the hydrogen before transitioning), it will transition to new fusion chains which don't last nearly as long, but create energy significantly faster.
[deleted] t1_je5fi56 wrote
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