Sun model completely confirmed for the first time

With the Borexino detector, a physics team has succeeded in detecting neutrinos from the sun's second fusion process. Image: Borexino Collaboration Borexino detector succeeds in measuring the sun's CNO fusion cycle - The Borexino Experiment research team has succeeded in detecting neutrinos from the sun's second fusion process, the Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen cycle (CNO cycle) for the first time. This means that all of the theoretical predictions on how energy is generated within the sun have now also been experimentally verified. The findings are the result of years of efforts devoted to bringing the background sources in the energy range of the CNO neutrinos under control. The sun generates its energy through the fusion of hydrogen to helium. This occurs in two ways: The majority of the energy, approximately 99 percent, comes from a process of fusion and decay which begins with two hydrogen nuclei and ends with one helium nucleus. This process is referred to as the pp (proton-proton) chain.