binary star

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One of a pair of stars that orbit around a common center of mass. Three types of binary stars include:

visual binary stars

Binary stars that are identified visually, that is, observers can see two stars orbiting each other.

eclipsing binary stars

Binary stars that are identified by changes in their brightness due to the stars passing in front of one another.

spectroscopic binary stars

Binary stars that are identified by Doppler shifts in their spectrum. These Doppler shifts indicate the presence of an otherwise unseen companion star.