Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle

E75704

The Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle is a nuclear fusion process in stars, particularly massive ones, where hydrogen is converted into helium through a catalytic cycle involving carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen nuclei.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of the Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle (The Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle is a nuclear fusion process in stars, particularly massive ones, where hydrogen is converted into helium through a catalytic cycle involving carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen nuclei.)

All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
CNO cycle 5
Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle canonical 3
CNO-I cycle 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf CNO cycle ⓘ
hydrogen burning process ⓘ
stellar nuclear fusion process ⓘ
alsoKnownAs CNO cycle ⓘ
carbon–nitrogen–oxygen cycle ⓘ
betaDecayInvolves electron neutrino emission ⓘ
positron emission ⓘ
comparedWith proton–proton chain ⓘ
conserves carbon-12 nucleus as a catalyst ⓘ
converts hydrogen into helium ⓘ
dependsOn metallicity of the star ⓘ
describedIn stellar structure and evolution theory ⓘ
dominantIn high-temperature stellar interiors ⓘ
massive main-sequence stars ⓘ
dominatesOver proton–proton chain in high-mass stars ⓘ
energySourceFor massive stars ⓘ
field astrophysics ⓘ
nuclear physics ⓘ
hasSubprocess CNO-I cycle ⓘ
CNO-II cycle ⓘ
CNO-III cycle ⓘ
influences mass–luminosity relation for massive stars ⓘ
stellar lifetimes of massive stars ⓘ
involves carbon-12 ⓘ
carbon-13 ⓘ
nitrogen-13 ⓘ
nitrogen-14 ⓘ
nitrogen-15 ⓘ
oxygen-15 ⓘ
mechanismType catalytic cycle ⓘ
namedAfter Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker ⓘ
Hans Bethe ⓘ
netEffect four protons fused into one helium-4 nucleus ⓘ
release of energy via mass–energy conversion ⓘ
occursIn stellar cores ⓘ
partOf hydrogen burning in stars ⓘ
stellar nucleosynthesis ⓘ
produces gamma rays ⓘ
helium-4 ⓘ
neutrinos ⓘ
reactionOrder sequence of proton captures and beta decays ⓘ
requires core temperatures above about 15 million kelvin ⓘ
role explains energy generation in hot, massive stars ⓘ
temperatureSensitivity strongly temperature dependent (approximately T^17 or higher in some regimes) ⓘ
timePeriodOfDevelopment 1930s ⓘ
usesAsCatalyst carbon nuclei ⓘ
nitrogen nuclei ⓘ
oxygen nuclei ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Hans Bethe → notableWork → Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle ⓘ
Hans Bethe → notableWork → Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle ⓘ
subject linked to: Bethe
Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle → alsoKnownAs → CNO cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle → hasSubprocess → CNO-I cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle → hasSubprocess → CNO-II cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle → hasSubprocess → CNO-III cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
Saiph → dominantFusionProcess → CNO cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
nitrogen-14 → producedIn → CNO cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
nitrogen-14 → producedIn → Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle ⓘ
Mirzam → dominantFusionProcess → CNO cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle
helium-4 → productOf → CNO cycle ⓘ
linked to: Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle