Britannica AI Icon

Quick Summary

A visual binary star is a pair of stars that orbit a common center of gravity and can be distinguished separately using a telescope. A significant portion of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy are part of binary or more complex multiple star systems. While "double star" can refer to any two stars appearing close together from Earth, "visual binary" specifically denotes stars whose individual components can be resolved with optical instruments. Other types of binary stars, like spectroscopic binaries and eclipsing variable stars, are identified through methods other than direct visual separation.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. binary star
  2. visual binary

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.