What structural characteristic develops inside a high-mass star as successive heavier element fusion layers ignite?
Answer
An onion-skin structure of concentric fusion shells.
As the star proceeds through subsequent fusion stages—first helium into carbon/oxygen, then carbon into heavier elements, followed by neon, oxygen, and silicon—a layered pattern of energy generation emerges. Each element burns in a shell surrounding the progressively heavier core that has resulted from the previous fusion stage. This configuration results in a structure resembling concentric layers, frequently termed an onion-skin structure, where different elements are actively undergoing fusion simultaneously in their respective shells around the core.
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