COSMIC CONNECTIONS

The Proton–Proton Chain

The most common form of hydrogen fusion in the Sun involves three steps, each of which releases energy.

Hydrogen fusion in the Sun usually takes place in a sequence of steps called the proton-proton chain. Each of these steps releases energy that heats the Sun and gives it its luminosity.

Hydrogen fusion also takes place in all of the stars visible to the naked eye. (Fusion follows a different sequence of steps in the most massive stars, but the net result is the same.)