Talk:Helium flash

Astronomy C‑class High‑importance

	Astronomy portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Astronomy, which collaborates on articles related to Astronomy on Wikipedia.AstronomyWikipedia:WikiProject AstronomyTemplate:WikiProject AstronomyAstronomy articles
C	This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Physics High‑importance

	Physics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Physics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Physics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PhysicsWikipedia:WikiProject PhysicsTemplate:WikiProject Physicsphysics articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Observable...[edit]

The Helium flash is something distinctly observable? If so it may be desirable to be explicit about that, and add detail. I'm no astronomer though. Midgley 10:45, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Visibility of the Helium flash[edit]

There seems to be a problem with this article. It suggests that the helium flash is an explosive and cataclysmic event which it is not. In fact it can barely be seen on the surface of the star as the energy released in the rapid fusion goes to lift the electron degeneracy, not to blow away the surface of the star

Latest user on wiki 16:21, 28 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My textbook "Discovering the Universe" 7th ed. Comins and Kaufmann on page 336 does describe the flash as "explosive and sudden" and leaves the impression that it would be visible. Anyone have an idea about it?

The helium flash is not visible from the surface of the star. It takes place deep within the star and the energy produced does not contribute much to an increase in luminosity. Splat (talk) 18:05, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

yea my text book says "helium flash--an explosive event in the post-main-sequence evolution of a low-mass star..."

My understanding is that the event is explosive in that it results in a rapid rise in temperature and generates a shock wave. However, this shock wave is damped out by the surrounding massive outer atmosphere. It is explosive somewhat in the same sense as an underground nuclear test.—RJH (talk) 16:41, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My textbooks indicate that it is invisible (by photons), and only have as consequence as to rapidly restructure the core, so that the core degeneracy is no more. Nothing in my books indicates that it will occur as a sudden luminosity increase event 15 Mya later, that can possibly be an erroneous interpretation of the text. But that doesn't deal with neutrinos. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 14:44, 8 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I rewrote: the books claim it's invisible, so now the article claims so too. But is it, really? Have anyone accounted for sudden neutrino bursts? Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 14:51, 8 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'll answer it myself: source [1] tells that the neutrino production/leakage is essential for the star not to disintegrate cataclysmically. Any hypothetical future neutrino telescope will observe the helium flash as it occurs. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 15:01, 8 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Cole and Deupree computed in about 1981-1984 that a core helium flash can cause nondisruptive mass loss: [1] [2], etc, while later computations dismiss such mass loss, f.ex. by Deupree in 1996 [3] and Mocák et al. 2008: [4], [5]. Lattanzio et al suggest an 1% luminosity increase: [6]. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 18:32, 8 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Relate to the Sun?[edit]

Considering that this is an event that will occur in the Sun during its transition to the Red Giant stage, perhaps a section on how it will (theoretically) proceed? Just a suggestion. 101.118.138.52 (talk) 13:46, 14 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]