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A nonspherical thermal instability in young stars

Abstract

NONSPHERICAL thermal instabilities have been shown1–4 not to be excited during the hydrogen-burning phase of stellar evolution. However, this conclusion holds true only for models with a homogeneous distribution of heavy elements. We show here that in nonhomogeneous young stars more massive than, or of the same mass as, the Sun, large-scale nonspherical thermal instability can be excited during the short period of time when carbon just starts capturing protons but before convection has set in.

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VANDAKUROV, Y. A nonspherical thermal instability in young stars. Nature 278, 625–626 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278625a0

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