Re: How close together can the stars in a binary system be to each other?

Date: Fri Oct 30 18:54:21 1998
Posted By: Brian Kane, Post-doc/Fellow, Astronomy, AstroPlace, Inc.
Area of science: Astronomy
ID: 909519651.As

Message:


They can touch.  Such binaries are
called "contact binaries".  Binary systems
themselves are rather common (more than half
of all star systems are binary), but on the rare
occasion that there is contact, the gravity
of each star tidally distorts the other so
that the gas from both their outer layers
flows into a common "connecting" region.

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