Happily! The sun lacks the necessary mass to burn using the nuclear reaction it uses (CNO), and quantum tunneling is the answer to how it burns. For a brief di

Happily! The sun lacks the necessary mass to burn using the nuclear reaction it uses (CNO), and quantum tunneling is the answer to how it burns. For a brief discussion on the reasons why: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/quantum-tunneling-in-the-sun.703818/ https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/quantum-tunneling-in-t... For more depth: http://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/ess-102/FALL12/Lecture14_NuclearFusion.pdf http://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/ess-102/FALL12/Lecture14_... For the technical end of it: http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~gk/A403/fusion.pdf http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~gk/A403/fusion.pdf