A report on Binary star
System of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other.
- Binary star93 related topics with Alpha
Star
23 linksAstronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity.
Astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity.
Stars can form orbital systems with other astronomical objects, as in the case of planetary systems and star systems with two or more stars.
White dwarf
17 linksStellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter.
Stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter.
The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star.
Nova
10 linksTransient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months.
Transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months.
All observed novae involve white dwarfs in close binary systems.
Black hole
10 linksRegion of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing – no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light – can escape from it.
Region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing – no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light – can escape from it.
In this way, astronomers have identified numerous stellar black hole candidates in binary systems and established that the radio source known as Sagittarius A*, at the core of the Milky Way galaxy, contains a supermassive black hole of about 4.3 million solar masses.
Sirius
8 linksBrightest star in the night sky.
Brightest star in the night sky.
Sirius is a binary star consisting of a main-sequence star of spectral type A0 or A1, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, termed Sirius B. The distance between the two varies between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units as they orbit every 50 years.
Supernova
14 linksPowerful and luminous explosion of a star.
Powerful and luminous explosion of a star.
Possible causes are an accumulation of material from a binary companion through accretion, or a stellar merger.
Double star
6 linksPair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes.
Pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes.
This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a binary system of stars in mutual orbit, gravitationally bound to each other) or is an optical double, a chance line-of-sight alignment of two stars at different distances from the observer.
Roche lobe
7 linksThe Roche lobe is the region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star.
Alpha Centauri
8 linksGravitationally bound system of the closest stars and planets to the Solar System at 4.37 light-years from the Sun.
Gravitationally bound system of the closest stars and planets to the Solar System at 4.37 light-years from the Sun.
Alpha Centauri A and B are Sun-like stars (Class G and K, respectively), and together they form the binary star Alpha Centauri AB.
Star system
10 linksSmall number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction.
Small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction.
A star system of two stars is known as a binary star, binary star system or physical double star.