Figure 19: Model of an accreting neutron star crust. The total mass of the star is .
Stable hydrogen burning takes place in the H-burning shell, and produces helium, which accumulates
in the He-shell. Helium ignites at 107 g cm–3, leading to a helium flash and explosive burning
of all matter above the bottom of the He-layer into 56Ni, which captures electrons to become 56Fe.
After 1 h, the cycle of accretion, burning of hydrogen and explosion triggered by a helium flash
repeats again and the layer of iron from the previous burst is pushed down. Based on the unpublished
results of calculations by P. Haensel and J.L. Zdunik. Accreted crust model of [186, 185]. The core
model of [125].
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