How Does Helium Fusion Begin?

Why does helium need a hotter denser core, and what is the triple-alpha process?

Connect core conditions with helium ignition and carbon production while distinguishing stellar masses.

A scientific artistic reconstruction of a red giant cutaway with a compact white helium core, a bright surrounding shell, and a small triple-alpha teaching motif inside the core. — Vastward artistic reconstruction. The cutaway separates the envelope, hydrogen-burning shell, and compact helium core; the nuclei are a teaching motif and not drawn to scale.

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