This interactive is used in Chapter 21.
Why are binary stars – especially eclipsing binary stars – so useful to astronomers? One reason is their light curves are loaded with information about the masses and sizes of the stars. This Interactive lets you custom-build a binary star, and then observe its light curve. What will you see when the stars are similar in mass versus when they are very different in mass? How does the distance between them come into play? How do mass and luminosity correlate? Check it out with the Binary Stars Interactive.