visual binary

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a binary star having components that are sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope.

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visual binary Scientific  

/ vĭzh′o̅o̅-əl /

1. See under binary star

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Example Sentences

Through a telescope, as Riccioli discovered in 1650, Mizar can be seen to have another, closer companion that does orbit it; Mizar is thus a visual binary.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

A binary star system in which both of the stars can be seen with a telescope is called a visual binary.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Two stars are in a visual binary star system that we see face on.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

If a visual binary system were to have two equal-mass stars, how would they be located relative to the center of the mass of the system?

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Alpha Centauri—the nearest star to the earth—is a visual binary, the component bodies revolving around each other in a period of about eighty-one years.

From Astronomy of To-day A Popular Introduction in Non-Technical Language by Dolmage, Cecil Goodrich Julius