Keywords
Star formation
Definition
Most stars are not isolated objects, but have an orbiting companion. This basic fact holds not only for mature stars, but also for objects at an earlier stage of evolution. Indeed, several young star clusters have a higher fraction of binaries than do main-sequence stars generally. Young binaries exhibit a very broad range in separations, and therefore orbital periods. In the widest pairs, the orbits are highly eccentric. Conversely, the tightest pairs are locked into circular orbits. Planet-forming disks are absent in these latter systems, apparently because of the disturbing influence of the companion.
Overview
Astronomers have long known that most stars have binary partners, that is, companions locked gravitationally into orbit. About 60% of solar-type, main-sequence stars have at least one such companion. The vast majority of these multiple systems are binaries, but triples and even quadruples also exist. Binarity is also common for stars of other...
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References and Further Reading
Duquennoy A, Mayor M (1991) Multiplicity among Solar-Type stars in the solar neighborhood II: Distribution of Orbital elements in an unbiased sample. Astron Astrophys 248:485
Ghez AM, Neugebauer G, Matthews K (1993) The multiplicity of T Tauri stars in the star-forming regions Taurus-Auriga and Ophiuchus-scorpius: A2, 2 Micron Speckle Imaging Survey. Astron J 106:2005
Jensen ELN, Mathieu RD, Fuller GF (1994) A connection between Submillimeter Continuum Flux and separation in young binaries. Astrophys J 429:L29
Zinnecker H, Mathieu RD (eds) (2001) The Formation of binary stars. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Stahler, S. (2011). Binary Stars, Young. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_162
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_162
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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