Gas giant mass more quickly via hydrodynamic escape than larger planets and planets farther out. A gas dwarf could be defined as a planet with a rocky core that has accumulated a thick envelope of hydrogen, helium and other volatiles, having as result a total radius between 1.7 and 3.9 Earth-radii. The smallest known extrasolar planet that is likely a "gas planet" is Kepler-138d, which has the same mass as Earth but is 60% larger and therefore has a density that indicates a thick gas envelope. A low-mass gas planet can still have a radius resembling that of a gas giant if
Red giant temperature and pressure are adequate to cause fusion to resume in a shell around the core. The outer layers of the star then expand greatly, thus beginning the red-giant phase of the star's life. As the star expands, the energy produced in the burning shell of the star is spread over a much larger surface area, resulting in a lower surface temperature and a shift in the star's visible light output towards the red—hence it becomes a "red giant". At this time, the star is said to be ascending the red-giant branch of the Hertzsprung–Russell (H–R) diagram. The evolutionary path