Transit and Periodic Variation in-sync

• by Layman Sterms

  Is this an eclipsing binary? If planet what could cause the apparent synchronization between the transits and variation

  Posted October 27, 2015 4:38 PM

• by davidbundy77

  Yes, this is an eclipsing binary. Notice the small secondary eclipses half-way between the primary eclipses.

  When the stars are close enough together the gravitational pull is strong enough to distort the stars into elongated shapes and tidal forces cause the stars to rotate synchronously with their orbits. Their brightness, as viewed from the Earth, then also varies synchronously with the orbits of the stars.

  Extremely close binaries can get stretched so far that they touch and partially merge. This leads to various pretty patterns in the light curve. Try googling "over contact binary".

  Posted October 27, 2015 6:15 PM

• by Layman Sterms

  Thanks for the response.

  Posted October 28, 2015 4:09 AM