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Stellar systems

Algol triple star system imaged with the CHARA interferometer.jpg
Algol AB movie imaged with the CHARA interferometer - labeled.gifHD188753 orbit.jpg
  • Top: The Algol three-star system imaged in the near-infrared by the CHARA interferometer with 0.5 mas resolution in 2009. The shape of Algol C is an artifact.
  • Bottom-left: Algol A is being regularly eclipsed by the dimmer Algol B every 2.87 days. (Imaged in the H-band by the CHARA interferometer. Sudden jumps in the animation are artifacts.)
  • Bottom-right: Artist's impression of the orbits of HD 188753, a triple star system

A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems. Star systems are not to be confused with planetary systems, which include planets and similar bodies.

A star system of two stars is known as a binary star, binary star system or physical double star. If there are no tidal effects, no perturbation from other forces, and no transfer of mass from one star to the other, such a system is stable, and both stars will trace out an elliptical orbit around the center of mass of the system indefinitely. (See Two-body problem). Examples of binary systems are Sirius, Procyon and Cygnus X-1, the last of which probably consists of a star and a black hole.

A multiple star system consists of three or more stars that appear from Earth to be close to one another in the sky. 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 (meaning that the stars may appear to be close to each other when viewed from planet Earth, as they both seem to occupy the same point in the sky, but in reality, one star may be much further away from Earth than the other, which is not readily apparent unless one can view them from a different angle). Physical multiple stars are also commonly called multiple stars or multiple star systems.


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Wikipedia

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