Analogous to the process leading to novae, degenerate matter can also accumulate on the surface of a neutron star that is accreting gas from a close companion. If a sufficiently thick layer of hydrogen accumulates, ignition of runaway hydrogen fusion can then lead to an X-ray burst. As with novae, such bursts tend to repeat and may also be triggered by helium or even carbon fusion. It has been proposed that in the case of "superbursts", runaway breakup of accumulated heavy nuclei into iron group nuclei via photodissociation rather than nuclear fusion could contribute the majority of the energy of the burst.