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visual binary

American  

noun

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


visual binary Scientific  
/ vĭzho̅o̅-əl /
  1. See under binary star


Example Sentences

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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

The two components that make up this visual binary, known as Mizar A and Mizar B, are both spectroscopic binaries.

From Textbooks Oct. 13, 2016

Which is easier to observe at large distances—a spectroscopic binary or a visual binary?

From Textbooks Oct. 13, 2016

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

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

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