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Phy_enthusiast
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which is the first binary star system discovered ever?
Xi Ursae Majoris (Xi UMa, ξ Ursae Majoris, ξ UMa) is a star system in the constellation Ursa Major. On May 2, 1780, Sir William Herschel discovered that this was a binary star system, making it the first such system ever discovered.
Phy_enthusiast said:but there are ancient records that people identified some stars to be binary...even before gravity was discovered.
Phy_enthusiast said:but there are ancient records that people identified some stars to be binary...even before gravity was discovered.
Phy_enthusiast said:from ancient times it is known in indian astronomy that two stars mizar and alcor is a binary system in big dipper asterism.
Phy_enthusiast said:it is probably the most ancient and first of its kind discovered in sky by early astronomers
Phy_enthusiast said:I don't know the answer, i suggested alcor and mizar because it was observed before william herschel discovered other binaries.I think they were first visual binaries ever discovered.
But there proper motion was also studied by ancient indians.
Drakkith said:It's likely that any reference to them moving around each other is based on something other than visual observation.
A binary star system is a system of two stars that orbit around a common center of mass. These stars are held together by their mutual gravitational attraction and can have a variety of orbital configurations.
Binary star systems can be formed through several different processes, including fragmentation of a collapsing molecular cloud, capture of a companion star by a single star, or the evolution of a single star into a binary system through mass transfer or stellar collisions.
The discovery of the first binary star system was significant because it challenged the notion that all stars were single objects. It also provided evidence for the existence of gravitational forces beyond the solar system and opened up new avenues for studying stellar evolution and dynamics.
Scientists use a variety of methods to detect and study binary star systems, including observing the movement of stars using telescopes, measuring the Doppler shifts of their spectral lines, and analyzing the eclipses of one star by the other in an eclipsing binary system.
Yes, many more binary star systems have been discovered since the first one in the 18th century. In fact, it is estimated that about half of all stars in the universe are part of a binary or multiple star system. These discoveries have greatly expanded our understanding of the universe and its components.