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Most
Stars are Not Like Our Sun!
(in some ways)
Binary Stars
(Binary Star
Systems)
Most star Systems
(like our Solar System) are Single (research
published 2006)... BUT
this is because as many as 85% of the stars in our galaxy could be
Red Dwarfs, and they tend to be solitary!
It's likely that most STARS are part of
Binary Systems:

This Accretion Disk Binary System
is an artist's conception ( Astronomy
Picture of the Day) of one type of binary star system, in which
the larger of the 2 stars seems to be pulling material from the smaller star
because of the larger star's greater gravity. In this case it's because the
smaller star has expanded near the end of its life, and its outer atmosphere
is essentially falling on to the other star. The larger star has at this
point become a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole.
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| Facts we think
we know... |
Most stars are actually part of binary or
multiple star systems |
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- 2
or more stars orbiting around each other
BUT...
- 2/3 of star
Systems in our galaxy may be single systems, most of which are
single Red Dwarf systems
- as many as 85% of the
stars in our galaxy could be Red Dwarfs
(Type M)
so
- 1/3 of star
Systems in our galaxy may be multiple-star systems
- the number of stars in multiple-star
systems is very large, though, so more than half
of all stars in our galaxy are probably in
multiple-star systems.
so
- our solar system, which is most likely a
single star system (theories about an as-yet-unseen companion not
withstanding) is part of the 2/3, but of course is NOT part of the 85%.
Remember it is a type G2V star
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| LINKS... |
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The star Mizar:... |
In the Big
Dipper, you can see one of the best known binaries, which turns out to be more than meets
the eye.
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U Oregon:
A college-level site. Difficult, but if you want a lot more serious info.... |
| Star
Clusters |
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UPDATED:
11/04/07
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