When small stars die,

light elements are

released. Explain why.

Only the bigger stars can produce heavier elements. This is because these stars can pull up their temperatures higher than the smaller stars like our Sun can. After hydrogen is used up in these stars, they go through a series of nuclear burning depending on the types of elements produced, for example, neon burning, carbon burning, oxygen burning or silicon burning. In carbon burning, the element goes through nuclear fusion to yield neon, sodium, oxygen and magnesium.