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The fusion of helium-4 nuclei ( Alpha Particle s) is known as the Triple-alpha Process , because fusion of just two helium nuclei only produces Beryllium -8, which is unstable and breaks back down to two helium nuclei with a half life of 1×10-16 to 2.6×10-16 seconds. If the core temperature of a Star exceeds 100 million Kelvin s (100 megakelvins), as may happen in the later phase of Red Giant s and Red Supergiant s, then a third helium nucleus has a significant chance of fusing with the beryllium-8 nucleus before it breaks down, thus forming Carbon -12. Depending upon the temperature and density, an additional helium nucleus may fuse with carbon-12 to form Oxygen -16, and at very high temperatures, additional fusions of helium to oxygen and heavier nuclei may occur (see Alpha Process ). The fusion of helium-3 with itself or with helium-4 occurs during the fusion of hydrogen in main sequence stars (see Proton-proton Chain ), and is not ordinarily referred to as helium fusion. See also REFERENCE Alak K. Ray (2004) Stars as thermonuclear reactors: their fuels and ashes (arxiv.org article) |