When two bodies orbit each other, we can calculate their masses based on the orbital time and the distance between them. When the binaries are eclipsing each other, that helps a to figure out the distance between them and their masses.
- Why are eclipsing binary stars important?
- Why are binary stars so important?
- What do eclipsing binary stars tell us about the stars?
- What can we learn from eclipsing binary stars?
- Why would an eclipsing binary be more valuable than an ordinary spectroscopic binary in accurately determining stellar parameters?
- How can astronomers use an eclipsing binary to determine the diameter of a star?
- Why are eclipsing binary stars less commonly observed than spectroscopic binary stars?
- What happens to binary stars?
- What stellar properties can we learn from eclipsing binaries?
Why are eclipsing binary stars important?
Binary star systems are very important in astrophysics because calculations of their orbits allow the masses of their component stars to be directly determined, which in turn allows other stellar parameters, such as radius and density, to be indirectly estimated.
Why are binary stars so important?
Binary stars are of immense importance to astronomers as they allow the masses of stars to be determined. A binary system is simply one in which two stars orbit around a common centre of mass, that is they are gravitationally bound to each other. Actually most stars are in binary systems.
What do eclipsing binary stars tell us about the stars?
Astronomers have estimated that more than half of all stars in the Milky Way Galaxy are members of a double or a more complex multiple star system. Most of these are too far from Earth for the individual stars to be resolved.
What can we learn from eclipsing binary stars?
When stars eclipse in this way it causes the brightness to vary, and this effects their light-curves because when a star is eclipsing another we see less light. The size of the stars, the distance between them and how much of the other star one star covers also determines how the curve may look.
Why would an eclipsing binary be more valuable than an ordinary spectroscopic binary in accurately determining stellar parameters?
Eclipsing binary stars are the most valuable, as they are our main source of direct mass and radius measurements for normal stars. In good cases, masses and radii can be obtained to better than 1% precision and accuracy using only photometry, spectroscopy and geometry.
How can astronomers use an eclipsing binary to determine the diameter of a star?
Light Curve of an Edge-On Eclipsing Binary: Here we see the light curve of a hypothetical eclipsing binary star whose orbit we view exactly edge-on, in which the two stars fully eclipse each other. From the time intervals between contacts, it is possible to estimate the diameters of the two stars.
Why are eclipsing binary stars less commonly observed than spectroscopic binary stars?
Eclipsing binary stars are more massive than spectroscopic binary stars, so eclipsing binaries have shorter lifespans. D. Eclipsing binary stars are less luminous than spectroscopic binary stars, so they are more difficult to detect.
What happens to binary stars?
Binary stars are actually pretty common (about a third of the stars in our galaxy are in some kind of binary), although the very close pairs are a little less common. For the majority of the lifetime of the stars in a binary, both stars just spin around each other, burning their own hydrogen and orbiting tranquilly.
What stellar properties can we learn from eclipsing binaries?
Eclipsing binaries also provide extensive data on stellar dimensions. The timing of eclipses provides the angular size of any occulting object, and so analyzing the light curves of eclipsing binaries can be a useful means of determining the dimensions of either dwarf or giant stars.