What mechanism drives the next stages of evolution after core hydrogen exhaustion in a massive star?
Answer
Violent gravitational collapse of the helium-rich core.
Once the hydrogen fuel in the core of a high-mass star is completely converted into inert helium ash, the primary source of outward thermal pressure vanishes from that central region. With this outward support gone, gravity gains the ascendancy, causing the helium-rich core to contract violently. This gravitational collapse is explicitly identified as the key mechanism that initiates the subsequent, more dramatic stages of stellar evolution for such massive objects that have depleted their main fuel supply.
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