Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffW1
Hi,
Is that a progression to helium burning (hotter reaction)?
Cheers
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The Sun is not hot enough to fuse helium at the moment. It will not be hot enough until the after the Sun becomes a red giant and the helium core gets hot enough for helium fusing. A helium 'flash' will occur.
The reason the Sun is getting hotter is that as more and more helium is fused to helium the core contracts. Due to this the outer layers expand and increase in temperature. With a higher surface temperature and greater surface area it becomes more luminous.