Eclipsing binary

An eclipsing binary is a binary star system oriented so that its stars periodically pass in front of one another from an observer’s viewpoint, producing changes in observed brightness.

Light curve: A graph of an astronomical object’s brightness over time. Its repeating dips record the timing and depth of each stellar eclipse.
Binary mass function: A relation derived from a binary orbit that constrains the masses of its components. Combining eclipse geometry with orbital motion sharpens the component-mass estimates.
Algol: A bright multiple star system in Perseus, containing a well-known eclipsing pair. Its changing brightness made it one of the earliest recognized eclipsing binaries.
Spectroscopic binary: A binary star system identified through periodic shifts or splitting of spectral lines. It can reveal orbital motion even when the stars do not eclipse.
Orbital inclination: The angle between an orbit’s plane and the plane of the sky. An orbit must be viewed nearly edge-on for one star to eclipse the other.
Stellar radius: The distance from a star’s center to its visible surface. Eclipse duration and shape constrain the sizes of both stars.
Beta Lyrae: A massive interacting binary whose components orbit in a changing, distorted configuration. Its continuously changing light curve illustrates eclipses complicated by mass transfer.
Visual binary: A binary star whose components can be resolved separately in images. Its defining evidence is spatial separation, not periodic dimming.
Roche lobe: The region around a star in a binary system where its gravity dominates nearby matter. Its shape helps determine whether close companions distort or exchange material during eclipses.
Effective temperature: The temperature of a blackbody emitting the same total energy per unit area as an object. Differences between the stars’ eclipse depths help estimate their relative surface temperatures.

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