Binary Star Systems

Winter is coming to an end, at least in astronomical terms. Officially we are halfway to spring, which means you should start to notice a little more daylight as we gain minutes each day. Also, imagine a planet orbiting two stars, also known as a binary star system. There are three such systems identified in our galaxy where a planet is orbiting two stars and treating those two stars as a single gravitational body. A well known binary star is Algol, also known as the Demon star, which can be seen with the naked eye in the right conditions. There are many other binary stars not too far away like Alpha Centauri at four light years away. And don’t miss what’s in the night sky this week including a full moon. All this and more on this week’s Sky Talk.[audio: st20120206.mp3]