How to Sunshine

Thanks, been a while since I did an educational post so...
Ta daa!

You make learning fun, something that my science teachers failed to do....

Well hopefully you still could learn.

They certainly look real.

Glad I could help. :)

But yes, you are correct saying that quantum tunneling has a key role in nuclear fusion, but for the intent of simplicity, I left that portion out.

Actually, the REAL reason the can collide is that the kinetic energy stored is large enough to allow the atoms to get close enough to allow the strong nuclear force to overcome the electromagnetic force.
However, as stated, if one of the protons does not beta decay into a neutron quick enough, the strong nuclear force is overcome by the rebound of the collision as well as the repulsing force of electromagnetism.
Quantum tunneling only allows this process to take place at much lower temperatures, because before, it was thought that the sun was not hot enough to induce fusion.