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Contact binary - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Accord, Acquaintance, Answer, Arbitrator, Association, Breath, Broker, Brush, Caress, Commerce, Communication, Communion, Concord, Congress, Conjunction, Connection |
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Contact binaries are a type of binary stars where both components of the binary fill their Roche lobes. The uppermost part of the stellar atmospheres forms a common envelope that surrounds both stars. As the friction of the envelope brakes the orbital motion, the stars coalesce in the future, unless something dramatic happens. Example: W UMa
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