Spectroscopic binary system

spectroscopic binary system: A star system in which the stars are too close together to be visible separately. We see a single point of light, and only by taking a spectrum can we determine that there are two stars.

Exercise 1: Binary Stars - investigate a spectroscopic binary system
Exercise 2: Eclipsing Binary Stars - simulate light curves for different eclipsing binary systems
Other Binary Star Simulations - online applets and software to download ...

A spectroscopic binary system is two stars orbiting a common point at too great a distance away from us to resolve the two stars individually, ...

In these systems the spectrum is dominated by one of the two stars. Spectroscopic binary systems are usually detected due to the movement of the emission and absorption lines in the observed spectrum, ...

from possibly more recent MARK III observational data are slightly different: a = 0.00993"; e=0.012; i= 157 +/- 2 degrees; and P= 10.02 days. (See also "Delta Tri" in the Eighth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Systems.) ...

See also: Mass, Main Sequence, Astronomy, Star, Dwarf