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contact binary

American  

noun

Astronomy.

  1. a binary system in which the envelopes of gas surrounding each star are in contact.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As Lucy sent more data back to Earth, the researchers discovered something surprising: Selam was not just one moon, it was a contact binary -- or two moons melded together.

From Science Daily • May 29, 2024

The first batch revealed a lumpy, misshapen space peanut composed of two touching lobes — called a contact binary.

From The Verge • Feb. 23, 2019

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.