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A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars using a telescope , in which case they are called visual binaries .
A multiple star system consists of two or more stars that appear from Earth to be close to one another in the sky. [dubious – discuss] This may result from the stars actually being physically close and gravitationally bound to each other, in which case it is a physical multiple star, or this closeness may be merely apparent, in which case it is an optical multiple star [a] Physical multiple ...
About half of all the stars in the sky are part of binary systems, with two stars orbiting each other. Some binary stars orbit each other so closely that they share the same atmosphere, giving the system a peanut shape. While most such contact binary systems are stable, some do become unstable and either eject one partner or eventually merge.
At about 2.7 million years old, the twin stars seem to be fairly young. Scientists said they appear to orbit each other at just the right distance: If they were too spread out, the black hole's gravity would rip them apart. Any closer and they'd merge into a single star. Even so, the cosmic duo won't stay stable forever.
Binary stars are also classified based on orbit. Wide binaries are objects with orbits that keep them apart from one another. They evolve separately and have very little effect on each other. Close binaries are close to each other and are able to transfer mass from one another. They can also be classified based on how we observe them.
At about 2.7 million years old, the twin stars seem to be fairly young. Scientists said they appear to orbit each other at just the right distance: If they were too spread out, the black hole's gravity would rip them apart. Any closer and they'd merge into a single star. Even so, the cosmic duo won't stay stable forever.
A multi-star system consists of two or more gravitationally bound stars that orbit each other. The simplest and most common multi-star system is a binary star, but systems of three or more stars exist. For reasons of orbital stability, such multi-star systems are often organized into hierarchical sets of binary stars. [116]
It orbits two stars that are also circling each other, one about two-thirds the size of the Sun, the other about a fifth the size of the Sun. Each orbit of the stars by the planet takes 229 days, while the planet orbits the system's center of mass every 225 days; the stars eclipse each other every three weeks or so.