Cold CNO Cycles
Under typical conditions found in stellar plasmas, catalytic hydrogen burning by the CNO cycles is limited by proton captures. Specifically, the timescale for beta-decay of radioactive nuclei produced is faster than the timescale for fusion. Because of the long timescales involved, the cold CNO cycles convert hydrogen to helium slowly, allowing them to power stars in quiescent equilibrium for many years.
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Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or cycles:
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