CNO cycle
The CNO cycle (for carbon–nitrogen–oxygen) is one of the two (known) sets of fusion reactions by which stars convert hydrogen to helium, the other being the proton–proton chain reaction. Unlike the latter, the CNO cycle is a catalytic cycle. Theoretical models suggest that the CNO cycle is the dominant source of energy in stars more massive than about 1.3 times the mass of the Sun. The proton–proton chain is more important in stars the mass of the Sun or less. This difference stems from temperature dependency differences between the two reactions; pp-chain reactions starts at temperatures around 4×10 K (4 megakelvins), making it the dominant energy source in smaller stars. A self-maintaining CNO chain starts at approximately 15×10 K, but its energy output rises much more rapidly with increasing temperatures. At approximately 17×10 K, the CNO cycle starts becoming the dominant source of energy. The Sun has a core temperature of around 15.7×10 K, and only 1.7% of 4He nuclei produced in the Sun are born in the CNO cycle. The CNO-I process was independently proposed by Carl von Weizsäcker and Hans Bethe in 1938 and 1939, respectively.