#heliumcreation #sunfusion #solarhelium #solarneutrinos
🌞 Have you ever wondered what happens to the helium created in the sun through its fusion process?
When the sun undergoes fusion, it converts hydrogen into helium as part of its energy-generating process. But what happens to the helium afterward? Let’s delve into the intriguing journey of helium in the sun and discover its fate.
## Helium Formation in the Sun
– The sun’s core acts as a massive fusion reactor where hydrogen atoms combine to form helium.
– This fusion process releases a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat and light.
– The helium created in the core gradually accumulates over time as the sun continues to fuse hydrogen into helium.
## Helium Migration in the Sun
– As helium accumulates in the sun’s core, it behaves differently from hydrogen due to its heavier atomic weight.
– Helium does not clump in the sun’s core but instead remains dispersed throughout the core along with hydrogen.
– The presence of helium in the core affects the overall dynamics of the sun and influences its energy production.
## Helium Transport to the Sun’s Surface
– While helium remains in the core of the sun, some of it eventually makes its way to the surface through a process known as helium transport.
– Helium transport occurs through the convective motion of gases within the sun, bringing helium to the surface where it can be observed as solar helium.
– Solar helium appears as sunspots, which are cooler regions on the sun’s surface due to the presence of helium.
## Fate of Helium in the Sun
– The sun’s fusion process does not consume helium, unlike hydrogen, which is continuously converted into helium.
– Helium remains in the sun as a stable element, contributing to the sun’s composition and energy production.
– Unlike hydrogen, which fuels the sun’s fusion reactions, helium acts as a byproduct of these reactions and plays a secondary role in the sun’s dynamics.
In conclusion, the helium created in the sun through its fusion process does not disappear but instead remains within the sun, influencing its composition and energy production. By understanding the journey of helium in the sun, we gain insights into the complex processes that drive the sun’s remarkable energy output.
If you found this information fascinating, be sure to visit our website for more in-depth articles on astronomy and solar phenomena. Keep exploring the wonders of the universe with us! 🌌🔠#solarheliumjourney #sunenergyproduction #heliumfusioncycle
It’s clumped in the core, though it’s important to remember that there’s a lot of helium spread throughout the Sun as well since it formed from gas that was ~25% Helium. The center of the Sun ends up being ~60% helium by now.
In stars below 0.5 solar masses, convection in the envelope reaches all the way down into the core, so the helium produced by fusion is dredged up and new material is cycled into the core. For stars like the Sun, that convection stops in the core and is limited to the envelope down from the surface, reaching less and less deeply down as the mass increases. By the time you reach 1.5 solar masses, the convection in the envelope stops and the core becomes convective. The internal structure changes again (how depends on mass) when stars run out of hydrogen in the core and reach the giant phase.
Some is fused into carbon which is fused into neon and other heavier elements until, ultimately, it’s fused into iron, which collects at the core and slowly accumulates, as Fe doesn’t become a heavier element, and fusion stops.