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An eclipsing binary star is a binary star system in which the orbital plane of the two stars lies so nearly in the line of sight of the observer that the components undergo mutual eclipses. [20] In the case where the binary is also a spectroscopic binary and the parallax of the system is known, the binary is quite valuable for stellar analysis.
If the accretor in an X-ray binary has a minimum mass that significantly exceeds the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit (the maximum possible mass for a neutron star), it is expected to be a black hole. This is the case in Cygnus X-1, for example, where the radial velocity of the companion star has been measured. [13] [14]
The most common kinds of binary system are binary stars and binary asteroids, but brown dwarfs, planets, neutron stars, black holes and galaxies can also form binaries. A multiple system is similar but consists of three or more objects, for example triple stars and triple asteroids (a more common term than 'trinary').
In astronomy, the Roche lobe is the region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star. It is an approximately teardrop-shaped region bounded by a critical gravitational equipotential , with the apex of the teardrop pointing towards the other star (the apex is at the L 1 Lagrangian point ...
An example of a visual binary: Theta1 Orionis C1 (lower) and C2 (upper), as imaged by VLT/GRAVITY. A visual binary is a gravitationally bound binary star system [1] that can be resolved into two stars. These stars are estimated, via Kepler's third law, to have periods ranging from a few years to thousands of years. A visual binary consists of ...
Heartbeat stars are pulsating variable binary star systems in eccentric orbits with vibrations caused by tidal forces. The name "heartbeat" comes from the similarity of the light curve of the star with what a heartbeat looks like through an electrocardiogram if their brightness was mapped over time.
HR Carinae is also likely to be a binary system with a similar separation, period, and ratio of component sizes to Eta Carinae. [22] However, the Eta Carinae system is more massive and more luminous. It has been identified as a possible type IIb supernova candidate in modelling of the fate of stars 20 to 25 times the mass of the Sun (with LBV ...
The Hulse–Taylor pulsar (known as PSR B1913+16, PSR J1915+1606 or PSR 1913+16) is a binary star system composed of a neutron star and a pulsar which orbit around their common center of mass. It is the first binary pulsar ever discovered.