V391 Pegasi the ejection of the hydrogen envelope of a red giant star at or just before the onset of helium fusion. The ejection left only a tiny amount of hydrogen on the surface - less than 1/1000 of the total stellar mass. The future for the star is to eventually cool down to make a low mass white dwarf. Most stars retain more of their hydrogen after the first red giant phase, and eventually become asymptotic giant branch stars. The reason that some stars, like V391 Pegasi, lose so much mass is not well known. In 2007, a gas giant planet
Red-giant branch core becomes degenerate. The core still supports its own weight thermodynamically with the help of energy from the hydrogen shell, but is no longer in thermal equilibrium. It shrinks and heats causing the hydrogen shell to become thinner and the stellar envelope to inflate. This combination decreases luminosity as the star cools towards the foot of the RGB. Before the core becomes degenerate, the outer hydrogen envelope becomes opaque which causes the star to stop cooling, increases the rate of fusion in the shell, and the star has entered the RGB. In these stars, the subgiant phase occurs within a