Eclipsing Binary Star
Related Category: Astronomy: General
see binary star; variable star.
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Eclipsing binary stars are variable because one star may obscure the surface of another star during their orbit, if the plane of their orbit lies on or near our line of sight. Algol is a common example of this kind of binary star.
eclipsing binary star - A binary star in which the plane of revolution of the two stars is nearly edge on to our line of sight, so that the light of one star is periodically diminished by the other passing in front of it.
Eclipsing binary stars, in which two stars are in orbit about each other and each passes in front of the other as seen from the Earth, have given us most of our knowledge of the masses of different kinds of stars.
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An eclipsing binary star is a binary star in which the orbit plane of the two stars lies so nearly in the line of sight of the observer that the components undergo mutual eclipses.
Download Eclipsing Binary Stars and conduct simulations of binary stars.
At this point in your education I suggest you visit the American Association of Variable Star Observers website.
The first eclipsing binary star system to be discovered was Algol, a star system in the constellation Perseus. Normally this star system has a visual magnitude of 2.1. However, every 20.867 days the magnitude decreases to 3.4 for more than 9 hours.
For low-mass eclipsing binary stars, the method of eclipse minimum timing allows astronomers to search for smaller masses than those feasible with radial velocity measurements.
Exercise 2: Eclipsing Binary Stars
For this exercise you need to open a Java applet hosted at Cornell University. Click here to open the site (another window will open automatically).
Beta Aurigae is an eclipsing binary star, and its apparent magnitude varies over a period of 3.96004 days between +1.85 and +1.93, as every 47.5 hours one of the stars partially eclipses the other from Earth's perspective.
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Alhena ...
Eclipsing binary stars also accord with this pattern. Alternatively - and exceptionally - a lunar eclipse is caused by the passage of the Earth between the Sun and the Moon, so that the Earth's shadow falls across the Moon, ...
The discovery is more than a curiosity: Par 1802 is an eclipsing binary star system, meaning the twins periodically orbit in front of one another, relative to Earth, temporarily and regularly blocking its partner's light.
Algol variables or Algol type binaries are a class of eclipsing binary stars.
If the light curve you measured looked like this plot (see below), then you could identify your object as an eclipsing binary star. Notice that there are "dips" in the plot. This is actually happening because the stars are eclipsing each other.
[7528] mu-1 Scorpii is another example of an eclipsing binary star of the Beta Lyrae type. Both components are blue-white stars; one is a subgiant and the other a dwarf. The system is about 822 light-years away from Earth.
ALGOL
Algol (Beta Persei) is a star in the constellation Perseus. Algol was the first known eclipsing binary star. It has a magnitude that ranges from 2.1 to 3.4; the period is 2.9 days.
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The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English entry for binary star
A Dictionary of Astronomy entry for binary star
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition entry for eclipsing binary star
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Eclipse An alignment of two bodies with the observer such that either the nearer body prevents the light from the further body from reaching the observer (strictly speaking, these are occultations), e.g. solar eclipse or eclipsing binary stars, ...
Known also as Praesepe (Latin for manger), it's Messier No. is M44. When observing it, look for the eclipsing binary star TX Cancri. Epsilon Cancri is also an eye catcher and worth spending some time to find.
 See also: Binary star, Eclipsing Binary, Star, Orbit, Period
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