double star

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer optical double star, or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system physical double star.

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double star British  

noun

1. two stars, appearing close together when viewed through a telescope; either physically associated (binary star) or not associated (optical double star) See also binary star optical double star

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double star Scientific  

1. See binary star

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Etymology

Origin of double star

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

double star

It will be a double star ceremony, and I’m so excited and can’t wait for that.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

And a smaller quibble: movie also purports in an early scene to show the double star Mizar and Alcor, but the photograph on screen is not of them.

From Salon ● May 6, 2023

The planet travels across the heavens with the double star Spica, a first magnitude object similar in brightness to Mars — dim for the Washington area.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2017

A star like Mizar A, which appears as a single star when photographed or observed visually through the telescope, but which spectroscopy shows really to be a double star, is called a spectroscopic binary.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

In the robes and concealing hoods, they could not be told from any other two members of the Brotherhood, except that the badge on Ennis' breast was the double star instead of the single one.

From The Door into Infinity by Edmond Hamilton