SLIDE 2.
Ignition! The
pressure and temperature at the core of the embryo star has risen
so high that hydrogen nuclei floating in a degenerate soup of
electrons are bumping close to one another. A complex reaction
ensues, rapidly liberating gamma radiation and neutrinos, and the
core begins to heat up. First deuterium, then the ordinary hydrogen
nuclei begin to fuse. A flare of nuclear fire lashes through the
inner layers of the star. It will take a million years for the
gamma-ray pulse to work its way out through the choking, blanketing
layers of degenerate hydrogen, but the neutrino pulse heralds the
birth cry of a new star.