Red-giant branch branch (SB), and red-giant branch (RGB), for stars with different initial masses, all at solar metallicity (Z = 0.02). Also shown are the helium core mass, surface effective temperature, radius, and luminosity at the start and end of the RGB for each star. The end of the red-giant branch is defined to be when core helium ignition takes place. Intermediate-mass stars only lose a small fraction of their mass as main-sequence and subgiant stars, but lose a significant amount of mass as red giants. The mass lost by a star similar to the Sun affects the temperature and luminosity of
S-type star difficult for a red giant to have other s-process elements in its atmosphere without technetium. S-type stars without technetium form by the transfer of technetium-rich matter, as well as other dredged-up elements, from an intrinsic S star in a binary system onto a smaller less-evolved companion. After a few hundred thousand years, the Tc will have decayed and a technetium-free star enriched with carbon and other s-process elements will remain. When this star is, or becomes, a G or K type red giant, it will be classified as a Barium star. When it evolves to temperatures cool enough for ZrO