Origin and occurrence of fluorine supernovae, atoms of neon could be hit by neutrinos during the explosion and converted to fluorine. In Wolf-Rayet stars (blue stars over 40 times heavier than the Sun), a strong solar wind could blow the fluorine out of the star before hydrogen or helium could destroy it. Finally, in asymptotic giant branch (a type of red giant) stars, fusion reactions occur in pulses and convection could lift fluorine out of the inner star. Only the red giant hypothesis has supporting evidence from observations. In space, fluorine commonly combines with hydrogen to form hydrogen fluoride. (This compound has been suggested as
Giant star convection in the outer layers, triggers a second dredge-up, and causes a dramatic increase in size and luminosity. This is the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) analogous to the red-giant branch but more luminous, with a hydrogen-burning shell contributing most of the energy. Stars only remain on the AGB for around a million years, becoming increasingly unstable until they exhaust their fuel, go through a planetary nebula phase, and then become a carbon–oxygen white dwarf. Main-sequence stars with masses above about are already very luminous and they move horizontally across the HR diagram when they leave the main sequence, briefly becoming