Talk:Binary star

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[edit] Fictional Usage

Would it be plausible to add a section on the fictional Mirrodin installment of Magic, The Gathering, which features a multi-star system? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.159.176.131 (talk • contribs) 00:16, 29 August, 2006 (UTC)

The fiction section was getting a bit large (especially since the article is quite big itself), so I split it off today. Nick Mks 19:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Binary star collision

Is it possible for a binary star to collide with its companion? After all, their orbits do overlap: [[1]] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Just James (talk • contribs) 12:56, 6 October, 2006 (UTC)

No. Since they orbit their common center of mass, they are always at opposite sides of the orbit (exactly as in the last animation). They can fuse together though, if they spiral in towards each other, as explained in the article. Thanks for bringing my attention to these nice animations. Nick Mks 10:56, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
I however, have found a different answer. Sometimes binary companions can and do collide. It happens with older stars of large mass. Some gamma-ray bursts, for instance, are caused by two neutron stars in a binary system colliding.--Sgcgirl52 08:47, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Exactly, as I mentioned above binaries can spiral into each other and eventually merge. That's what you are referring to and this is also in the article. What Just James asks is whether they could undergo a sudden freak collision due to the fact that their Kepler orbits intersect. This is of course impossible, since orbiting bodies are always at opposite ends of their orbit. Nick Mks 18:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
I was unaware that Just James was only refering to the companions colliding due to their Kepler orbits. I assumed that he was refering to colliding in any matter and was just trying to clarify that the two can be in a degenerative orbit and eventually collide. --Sgcgirl52 22:33, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
I understand, and I appreciate your input. I can actually only guess that he refers to that because he said After all, their orbits do overlap. That's why I assume he means a sudden collision. Nick Mks 08:32, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

As from now, I am discontinuing my efforts to limit vandalism to this article (which I got featured last spring). Without the requested support from admins, this is becoming an impossible task. Nick Mks 18:36, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Despite my vow not to, I reverted vandalism today. I pretty much had to, because it had been there for almost 24 hours, and I doubt whether it would have been removed at all. The degeneracy of scientific articles lately is quite obvious... Nick Mks 19:56, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Occurrence of multiple systems

This line in the article is intriguing: "Recent research suggests that a large percentage of stars are part of systems with at least two stars" Could a footnote or link be added to explore it? Thanks, John Sweeney —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.25.230.141 (talk • contribs) 18:56, 29 November, 2006 (UTC)

Well, this is indeed a very hot topic in astrophysics, so it is quite difficult to give a complete and correct answer. A good and recent reference is the one in the article: [2]. You can also browse ADS with some relevant keywords for more. Nick Mks 21:16, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Well, the link that you have given supports past hypotheses and ADS did not give any relevant information to me either. Do you have any stronger reference? Really, stated in this way without any reference, it sounds very ... trust-worthless, let's say.

[edit] Simple Question

I apologize if it sounds like a very basic question, but how would the two stars on a binary system appear on the sky of an Earth-like planet orbiting one of the two suns and relatively far from the other ? Specially, how would sunset/sunrise, day/night look like ? 161.24.19.82 17:29, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nemesis/Sun Relationship

Shouldn't the Sun/Nemesis hypothesis be added in some way to the article? Scientists think that our Solar System is a binary-star if Nemesis is out there beyond the Oort Cloud. Spark Moon 16:25, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Two stars

The first sentence says A binary star is a stellar system consisting of two stars orbiting around their center of mass. And right two it there is a picture with only 1 star and a blackhole. I know blackholes were stars before they died, but I think the first sentence ain't right. Silver Spoon 08:33, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] DDEB - Double-lined eclipsing binary

Reading this [AJ paper], they claim that NSVS01031772 is a DDEB type binary. Looking on this page, it does not mention it. This is the first time I seen this term, wondering if any of you know what this means. It also states that these objects are scarce. And that the first 2 low-mass ones discovered are CM Dra & YY Gem. What makes NSVS01031772 unique is that both stars are of stellar metallicity. I will try rereading the paper to see if I missed anything. Thanks, CarpD 6/22/07.

I looked at the paper. I think DDEB is just their non-standard notation for a double-lined system, so not worth noting. I couldn't find any other papers using this notation on a quick search. Timb66 07:39, 23 June 2007 (UTC)