Roche lobe
nounEtymology Named after Édouard Roche.
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Astronomy, Natural sciences The teardrop-shaped region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star.
- A further interesting situation (although not one of much relevance for this book) comes about if both stars for some reason fill their Roche lobes simultaneously.2002, Juhan Frank, Andrew King, Derek Raine, Accretion Power in Astrophysics, page 54:
- Generally, mass transfer by Roche lobe overflow is required to power LMXRB's, since low mass stars never exhibit strong stellar winds.2012, C. de Loore, C. Doom, Structure and Evolution of Single and Binary Stars, page 386:
1 more example
- If only one component accurately fills its Roche lobe the system is semi-detached. If neither fills its Roche lobe, it is detached.2013, Josef Kallrath, Eugene F. Milone, Eclipsing Binary Stars: Modeling and Analysis, page 85:
- Related terms
- Roche limit, Roche sphere