Red-giant branch temperature and luminosity are very similar at the cool end of the horizontal branch. These stars form the red clump at about 5,000 K and . Less massive hydrogen envelopes cause the stars to take up a hotter and less luminous position on the horizontal branch, and this effect occurs more readily at low metallicity so that old metal-poor clusters show the most pronounced horizontal branches. Stars initially more massive than have non-degenerate helium cores on the red-giant branch. These stars become hot enough to start triple-alpha fusion before they reach the tip of the red-giant branch and before the
Giant star of distinct evolutionary phases of their lives: a main red-giant branch (RGB); a red horizontal branch or red clump; the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), although AGB stars are often large enough and luminous enough to get classified as supergiants; and sometimes other large cool stars such as immediate post-AGB stars. The RGB stars are by far the most common type of giant star due to their moderate mass, relatively long stable lives, and luminosity. They are the most obvious grouping of stars after the main sequence on most HR diagrams, although white dwarfs are more numerous but far less luminous.