Asymptotic giant branch forming helium (known as hydrogen burning), and a very large envelope of material of composition similar to main-sequence stars. When a star exhausts the supply of hydrogen by nuclear fusion processes in its core, the core contracts and its temperature increases, causing the outer layers of the star to expand and cool. The star becomes a red giant, following a track towards the upper-right hand corner of the HR diagram. Eventually, once the temperature in the core has reached approximately , helium burning (fusion of helium nuclei) begins. The onset of helium burning in the core halts the star's cooling
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