Stars initially between about and have larger helium cores that do not become degenerate. Instead their cores reach the Schoenberg-Chandrasekhar mass at which they are no longer in hydrostatic or thermal equilibrium. They then contract and heat up, which triggers helium fusion before the core becomes degenerate. These stars also become hotter during core helium fusion, but they have different core masses and hence different luminosities from HB stars. They vary in temperature during core helium fusion and perform a blue loop before moving to the asymptotic giant branch. Stars more massive than about also ignite their core helium smoothly, and also go on to burn heavier elements as a red supergiant.