[Hot Tabasco]

Astronomers have long been fascinated by this form of star death because it shows what will happen to the Sun in about 5 billion years

It's beyond my ability to understand how the sun can stay burning for the hundreds of millions of years it's been in existence and for billions more.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

It's beyond my ability to understand how the sun can stay burning for the hundreds of millions of years it's been in existence and for billions more.

It's possible through a process in quantum physics known as "tunneling," which allows a nice slow fusion process over a couple billion years. The sun is actually not hot enough for the fusion of hydrogen atoms to actually occur, but it is hot enough for hydrogen atoms to occasionally and accidentally fuse together and create energy.

Here's a good explanation of the phenomenon for the layman:

Quantum Tunnelling
https://byjus.com/physics/quantum-tunnelling/#:~:text=Quantum%20tunnelling%20is%20a%20phenomenon,long%20way%20on%20both%20sides.