When stars in the 0.8–2.0 solar mass range exhaust the hydrogen in their cores and become red giants, the helium accumulating in their cores reaches degeneracy before it ignites. When the degenerate core reaches a critical mass of about 0.45 solar masses, helium fusion is ignited and takes off in a runaway fashion, called the helium flash, briefly increasing the star's energy production to a rate 100 billion times normal. About 6% of the core is quickly converted into carbon. While the release is sufficient to convert the core back into normal plasma after a few seconds, it does not disrupt the star, nor immediately change its luminosity. The star then contracts, leaving the red giant phase and continuing its evolution into a stable helium-burning phase.