Star system
Encyclopedia
A star system or stellar system is a small number of star
s which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction
. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster
or galaxy
, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.
, binary star system or physical double star
. If there are no tidal
effects, no perturbation from other forces, and no transfer of mass
from one star to the other, such a system is stable, and both stars will trace out an elliptical
orbit
around the center of mass
of the system indefinitely. See Two-body problem
.
Examples of binary systems are Sirius
, Procyon
and Cygnus X-1
, the last of which probably consists of a star and a black hole
.
s are systems of more than two stars. Multiple various star systems are called triple, trinary or ternary if they contain three stars; quadruple or quaternary if they contain four stars; quintuple with five stars; sextuple with six stars; septuple with seven stars; and so on. These systems are smaller than open star clusters, which have more complex dynamics and typically have from 100 to 1,000 stars.
involved, the n-body problem
, may exhibit chaotic
behavior.
Many configurations of small groups of stars are found to be unstable, as eventually one star will approach another closely and be accelerated so much that it will escape from the system. This instability can be avoided if the system is what Evans has called hierarchical. In a hierarchical system, the stars in the system can be divided into two smaller groups, each of which traverses a larger orbit around the system's center of mass
. Each of these smaller groups must also be hierarchical, which means that they must be divided into smaller subgroups which themselves are hierarchical, and so on. In this case, the stars' motion will continue to approximate stable Keplerian
orbits around the system's center of mass, unlike the more complex dynamics
of the large number of star
s in star cluster
s and galaxies
.
Tokovinin's catalog of physical multiple stars,
551 out of the 728 systems described are triple. However, because of selection effects, our knowledge of these statistics is very incomplete., §2.
Because of the dynamical instabilities mentioned earlier, triple systems are generally hierarchical: they contain a close binary
pair which has a more distant companion. Systems with higher multiplicities are also generally hierarchical. Systems with up to six stars are known; for example, Castor
(Alpha Geminorum), which consists of a binary pair in a distant orbit of two closer binary pairs. Another system known with six stars is ADS 9731, which consists of a pair of two triple systems, each of which is a spectroscopic binary in orbit
together with a single star.
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction
Gravitation
Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass. Gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped...
. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster
Star cluster
Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...
or galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.
Binary star systems
A stellar system of two stars is known as a binary starBinary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
, binary star system or physical double star
Double star
In observational astronomy, a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through an optical telescope. This can happen either because the pair forms a binary star, i.e...
. If there are no tidal
Tidal force
The tidal force is a secondary effect of the force of gravity and is responsible for the tides. It arises because the gravitational force per unit mass exerted on one body by a second body is not constant across its diameter, the side nearest to the second being more attracted by it than the side...
effects, no perturbation from other forces, and no transfer of mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
from one star to the other, such a system is stable, and both stars will trace out an elliptical
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
around the center of mass
Center of mass
In physics, the center of mass or barycenter of a system is the average location of all of its mass. In the case of a rigid body, the position of the center of mass is fixed in relation to the body...
of the system indefinitely. See Two-body problem
Two-body problem
In classical mechanics, the two-body problem is to determine the motion of two point particles that interact only with each other. Common examples include a satellite orbiting a planet, a planet orbiting a star, two stars orbiting each other , and a classical electron orbiting an atomic nucleus In...
.
Examples of binary systems are Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, Procyon
Procyon
Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. To the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, the seventh brightest in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of 0.34...
and Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
, the last of which probably consists of a star and a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
.
Multiple star systems
Multiple star systems or physical multiple starMultiple star
A multiple star consists of three or more stars which appear from the Earth to be close to one another in the sky. This may result from the stars being physically close and gravitationally bound to each other, in which case it is physical, or this closeness may be merely apparent, in which case...
s are systems of more than two stars. Multiple various star systems are called triple, trinary or ternary if they contain three stars; quadruple or quaternary if they contain four stars; quintuple with five stars; sextuple with six stars; septuple with seven stars; and so on. These systems are smaller than open star clusters, which have more complex dynamics and typically have from 100 to 1,000 stars.
Dynamics
Theoretically, modelling a multiple star system is more difficult than modelling a binary star, as the dynamical systemDynamical system
A dynamical system is a concept in mathematics where a fixed rule describes the time dependence of a point in a geometrical space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the flow of water in a pipe, and the number of fish each springtime in a...
involved, the n-body problem
N-body problem
The n-body problem is the problem of predicting the motion of a group of celestial objects that interact with each other gravitationally. Solving this problem has been motivated by the need to understand the motion of the Sun, planets and the visible stars...
, may exhibit chaotic
Chaos theory
Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the...
behavior.
Many configurations of small groups of stars are found to be unstable, as eventually one star will approach another closely and be accelerated so much that it will escape from the system. This instability can be avoided if the system is what Evans has called hierarchical. In a hierarchical system, the stars in the system can be divided into two smaller groups, each of which traverses a larger orbit around the system's center of mass
Center of mass
In physics, the center of mass or barycenter of a system is the average location of all of its mass. In the case of a rigid body, the position of the center of mass is fixed in relation to the body...
. Each of these smaller groups must also be hierarchical, which means that they must be divided into smaller subgroups which themselves are hierarchical, and so on. In this case, the stars' motion will continue to approximate stable Keplerian
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
In astronomy, Kepler's laws give a description of the motion of planets around the Sun.Kepler's laws are:#The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci....
orbits around the system's center of mass, unlike the more complex dynamics
Dynamics (mechanics)
In the field of physics, the study of the causes of motion and changes in motion is dynamics. In other words the study of forces and why objects are in motion. Dynamics includes the study of the effect of torques on motion...
of the large number of star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s in star cluster
Star cluster
Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...
s and galaxies
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
.
Observation
Most multiple star systems known are triple; for higher multiplicities, the number of known systems with a given multiplicity decreases exponentially with multiplicity. For example, in the 1999 revision ofTokovinin's catalog of physical multiple stars,
551 out of the 728 systems described are triple. However, because of selection effects, our knowledge of these statistics is very incomplete., §2.
Because of the dynamical instabilities mentioned earlier, triple systems are generally hierarchical: they contain a close binary
Binary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
pair which has a more distant companion. Systems with higher multiplicities are also generally hierarchical. Systems with up to six stars are known; for example, Castor
Castor (star)
Castor is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Although it has the Bayer designation "alpha", it is actually fainter than Beta Geminorum...
(Alpha Geminorum), which consists of a binary pair in a distant orbit of two closer binary pairs. Another system known with six stars is ADS 9731, which consists of a pair of two triple systems, each of which is a spectroscopic binary in orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
together with a single star.
Binary
- SiriusSiriusSirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, a binaryBinary starA binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
consisting of a main-sequence type A star and a white dwarfWhite dwarfA white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
. - ProcyonProcyonProcyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. To the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, the seventh brightest in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of 0.34...
, which is similar to Sirius. - MiraMiraMira also known as Omicron Ceti , is a red giant star estimated 200-400 light years away in the constellation Cetus. Mira is a binary star, consisting of the red giant Mira A along with Mira B. Mira A is also an oscillating variable star and was the first non-supernova variable star discovered,...
, a variable - Delta CepheiDelta CepheiDelta Cephei is a binary star system approximately 891 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus . Delta Cephei is the prototype of the Cepheid variable stars, and it is among the closest stars of this type to the Sun...
, a Cepheid variable - Epsilon AurigaeEpsilon AurigaeEpsilon Aurigae is a star in the constellation Auriga. It is traditionally known as Almaaz, Haldus, or Al Anz. Epsilon Aurigae is an unusual eclipsing binary system comprising an F0 supergiant and a companion which is generally accepted to be a huge dark disk orbiting an unknown object, possibly a...
, an eclipsing binaryBinary starA binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
.
Triple
- PolarisPolarisPolaris |Alpha]] Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star....
, the north star, is a triple star system in which the closer companion star is extremely close to the main star—so close that it was only known from its gravitational tug on Polaris A until it was photographed by the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
in 2006. - Alpha CentauriAlpha CentauriAlpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
is a triple star composed of a main binary yellow dwarfYellow dwarfA G-type main-sequence star , often called a yellow dwarf, is a main-sequence star of spectral type G and luminosity class V. Such a star has about 0.8 to 1.2 solar masses and surface temperature of between 5,300 and 6,000 K., Tables VII, VIII...
pair (Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B), and an outlying red dwarfRed dwarfAccording to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....
, Proxima CentauriProxima CentauriProxima Centauri is a red dwarf star about 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye...
. A and B are a physical binary starBinary starA binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
, with an eccentric orbitOrbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
in which A and B can be as close as 11 AUAstronomical unitAn astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
or as far away as 36 AU. Proxima is much further away (~15,000 AU) from A and B than they are to each other. Although this distance is still small compared to other interstellar distances, it is debatable whether Proxima is gravitationally bound to A and B. - HD 188753HD 188753HD 188753 is a triple star system approximately 149 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus . In 2005, an extrasolar planet was announced to be orbiting the primary star in the system...
is a triple star system located approximately 149 light-yearLight-yearA light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s away from EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
in the constellationConstellationIn modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
CygnusCygnus (constellation)Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Its name is the Latinized Hellenic word for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross...
. The system is composed of HD 188753A, a yellow dwarfYellow dwarfA G-type main-sequence star , often called a yellow dwarf, is a main-sequence star of spectral type G and luminosity class V. Such a star has about 0.8 to 1.2 solar masses and surface temperature of between 5,300 and 6,000 K., Tables VII, VIII...
; HD 188753B, an orange dwarfOrange dwarfA K-type main-sequence star , also referred to orange dwarf, are main-sequence stars of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence stars and yellow G-type main-sequence stars...
; and HD 188753C, a red dwarfRed dwarfAccording to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....
. B and C orbit each other every 156 days, and, as a group, orbit A every 25.7 years.
Quadruple
- 4 Centauri4 Centauri4 Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus. It is a blue-white B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +4.75 and is approximately 670 light years from Earth....
- MizarMizar (star)The Mizar–Alcor stellar sextuple system consists of the quadruple system Mizar and the binary system Alcor.- Description :Mizar is a quadruple system of two binary stars in the constellation Ursa Major and is the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. Its apparent magnitude is 2.23...
is often said to have been the first binary starBinary starA binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
discovered when it was observed in 1650 by Giovanni Battista RiccioliGiovanni Battista RiccioliGiovanni Battista Riccioli was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic priest in the Jesuit order...
, p. 1; , but it was probably observed earlier, by Benedetto CastelliBenedetto CastelliBenedetto Castelli , born Antonio Castelli, was an Italian mathematician. He took the name "Benedetto" upon entering the Benedictine Order in 1595....
and Galileo. Later, spectroscopySpectroscopySpectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
of its components Mizar A and B revealed that they are both binary stars themselves. - HD 98800HD 98800HD 98800, also catalogued as TV Crateris , is a quadruple star system approximately 150 light-years away in the constellation of Crater . The system is located within the TW Hydrae association...
Sextuple
- CastorCastor (star)Castor is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Although it has the Bayer designation "alpha", it is actually fainter than Beta Geminorum...
- HD 139691HD 139691HD 139691 is a star system that consists of six stars. Four of the stars are visually separate in the sky, forming a visual star system, which was resolved using adaptive optics in 1995...
- If Alcor is considered part of the MizarMizar (star)The Mizar–Alcor stellar sextuple system consists of the quadruple system Mizar and the binary system Alcor.- Description :Mizar is a quadruple system of two binary stars in the constellation Ursa Major and is the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. Its apparent magnitude is 2.23...
system, the system can be considered a sextuple.
See also
- Solar SystemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
- Multiple starMultiple starA multiple star consists of three or more stars which appear from the Earth to be close to one another in the sky. This may result from the stars being physically close and gravitationally bound to each other, in which case it is physical, or this closeness may be merely apparent, in which case...
- Planetary systemPlanetary systemA planetary system consists of the various non-stellar objects orbiting a star such as planets, dwarf planets , asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and cosmic dust...
- Extrasolar planetExtrasolar planetAn extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...