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binary star

Star system consisting of two stars rotating around a common center of mass

Also known as binary star system · physical double star

Instance of: astronomical object type
Subclass of: star system
, binary system
, double star

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

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 are among the most important objects in astrophysics because they allow direct measurement of stellar masses and test theories of stellar evolution. 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. Many visual binaries have long orbital periods of several centuries or millennia and therefore have orbits which are uncertain or poorly known. They may also be detected by indirect techniques, such as spectroscopy or astrometry. If a binary star happens to orbit in a plane along our line of sight, its components will eclipse and transit each other; these pairs are called eclipsing binaries, or, together with other binaries that change brightness as they orbit, photometric binaries.

Overview

All data

40 statements · 30% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Members / parts: star quantity: 2
Different from: double star
optical double
Has list: Q5392923

On other databases

30 identifiers linking binary star across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

30%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 26, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). binary star (Q50053). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/binary-star-Q50053