binary star

noun

|Updated on: 21 Jul 2018

Definition of binary star

: a system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation

Recent Examples of binary star from the Web

The planets that researchers have turned up range from big and weird — like a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a binary star system — to ones that are closer in size and orbit to Earth.

— sean o'kane, The Verge, "NASA put its famous planet-hunting telescope to sleep because it’s almost out of fuel," 6 July 2018
In 1974, scientists found that a certain binary star system had to be producing gravitational waves—but only because the orbit of these stars decayed at the precise rate that energy had to be exiting in the form of gravitational waves.

— william herkewitz, Popular Mechanics, "At Long Last, Scientists Say They Have Confirmed Gravitational Waves," 11 Feb. 2016
In theory, the powerful gravity of this black hole can disrupt binary star systems that stray too close, sending one star rocketing away at about 1000 kilometers per second, fast enough to escape the galaxy’s own gravitational pull.

— joshua sokol, Science | AAAS, "One of the Milky Way’s fastest stars is an invader from another galaxy," 8 May 2018
For the study, published March 19 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Jackson and his collaborators performed 2,000 computer simulations of binary star systems with a small third body representing an object like Oumuamua.

— david freeman /, NBC News, "'Oumuamua' object likely came from a solar system very different from ours," 20 Mar. 2018
Alan Jackson, an astronomer at the University of Toronto, reported Monday that the asteroid was probably from a binary star system, in which two stars orbit a common center.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Asteroid probably came from two-star system," 20 Mar. 2018
The team’s computer simulations suggest that up to 36% of binary stars can eject asteroids.

— sid perkins, Science | AAAS, "Mysterious asteroid that visited us from beyond our solar system probably came from a place with two stars," 19 Mar. 2018
Watching Burnham drift through space toward an ancient Klingon relic with a brilliant binary star in the background is something Star Trek fans have always imagined, but TV producers never quite had the technology to make a reality.

— matt miller, Esquire, "Star Trek: Discovery Is Beautiful. But Does That Make it Good?," 25 Sep. 2017
Astronomers have now identified the source of that brief brightening — a binary star system a couple of thousand light-years away.

— kenneth chang, New York Times, "Casting Light on Mystery of a Star That Vanished After 14 Days," 30 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'binary star.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.