Other
Scientific paper
May 1983
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983natur.303..137t&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 303, May 12, 1983, p. 137-142.
Other
21
Binary Stars, Stellar Evolution, Companion Stars, Main Sequence Stars, Mass Transfer, Protostars, Stellar Mass, Stellar Mass Accretion, Stellar Mass Ejection
Scientific paper
Details and examples of the six phases of existence for a binary star system are described. The birth and pre-main-sequence contraction is generally obscured from observation by the presence of gas and dust clouds; it comprises 1/1000th of a system's lifetime. The main sequence, i.e., hydrogen burning, takes up to 90 pct of a star's lifetime, and has been detected in stars with masses ranging from 0.07-32 solar masses. In binary systems, the main sequence stars may or may not interact, or one companion may burn out before the other leaves the main sequence. The primary in a binary system expands to fill its Roche lobe before mass transfer begins, then continues on a Kelvin-Helmholtz time scale until the primary is smaller than the secondary, when transfer proceeds on a nuclear time scale. The depletion of hydrogen fuel or He ignition stops the mass transfer, leading to formation of a white dwarf, neutron star, or supernova that sends both the neutron star and the OB secondary off at high speeds. Back transfer can be initiated in a fifth phase and can produce black holes or dwarf novae, or supernovae. Finally, the system terminates when both stars are extinguished and fall into one another, which can also yield supernovae or black holes.
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