binary star
noun
: a system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation
Examples of binary star in a Sentence
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The traditional picture of how hypervelocity stars are made begins with a binary star system.
—
Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2019
Although binary stars are common, there are far more of these JuMBOs seen than expected, given previous observations of how planetary-mass objects form.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2023
Ironically, the Depression-era setting makes the film seem far less dated than other movies from 1973, and the binary star system at its center has lost not one photon of its luminescence.
—Ty Burr, Washington Post, 25 Dec. 2023
Then, in August, Kepler scientists discovered a binary star circled by two planets.
—Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 27 Nov. 2012
Oh, this is too cool: scientists have found a planet orbiting a binary star (a pair of stars in tight orbit around each other) that is at the right distance to have liquid water!
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 29 Aug. 2012
With a contraption that would have earned him kudos from MacGyver, Schneider managed to track the transit of an exoplanet in the binary star system HD 189733, a type of observation that had escaped even professional astronomers until 2002.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Oct. 2023
Further research, in the form of X-ray data, revealed large amounts of iron around the region of RCW 86, indicating this supernova was a different type of stellar explosion that occurs within a pair of stars called a binary star system.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Mar. 2023
Since the data release, Breivik has been refining synthetic versions of the Gaia data for binary star systems.
—Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 22 June 2022
Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2019
Although binary stars are common, there are far more of these JuMBOs seen than expected, given previous observations of how planetary-mass objects form.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2023
Ironically, the Depression-era setting makes the film seem far less dated than other movies from 1973, and the binary star system at its center has lost not one photon of its luminescence.
—Ty Burr, Washington Post, 25 Dec. 2023
Then, in August, Kepler scientists discovered a binary star circled by two planets.
—Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 27 Nov. 2012
Oh, this is too cool: scientists have found a planet orbiting a binary star (a pair of stars in tight orbit around each other) that is at the right distance to have liquid water!
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 29 Aug. 2012
With a contraption that would have earned him kudos from MacGyver, Schneider managed to track the transit of an exoplanet in the binary star system HD 189733, a type of observation that had escaped even professional astronomers until 2002.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Oct. 2023
Further research, in the form of X-ray data, revealed large amounts of iron around the region of RCW 86, indicating this supernova was a different type of stellar explosion that occurs within a pair of stars called a binary star system.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Mar. 2023
Since the data release, Breivik has been refining synthetic versions of the Gaia data for binary star systems.
—Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 22 June 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'binary star.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Binary star.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/binary%20star. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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