What occurs immediately after a solar-mass star exhausts its core hydrogen fuel?
Answer
It initiates shell burning around the inert core, expanding into a red giant
When the core hydrogen fuel within a star like the Sun is completely exhausted, the delicate hydrostatic equilibrium is disturbed, allowing gravity to compress the core. This contraction heats the layers surrounding the inert core sufficiently to ignite hydrogen shell burning. This new energy source causes the star's outer layers to expand dramatically and cool, resulting in the star transforming into a red giant. During this phase, helium begins fusing into carbon and other heavier elements in the core.
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