Most people realize our Sun is producing light and heat from the fusion of hydrogen into helium. However, the process of merging together hydrogen nuclei into helium is not as straightforward as it might seem. Typically, there are two processes by which smaller stars create fusion. The first of these, the proton-proton (pp) reaction is the simpler, as well as the more common, of the two. The second, the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle, is thought to be the predominant means of producing energy in hotter, more massive stars. However, a new study finds neutrinos from the Sun providing the first direct evidence of…
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