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semidetached binary

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | 326 words | Copyright

semidetached binary A close binary star in which one component fills its Roche lobe. Mass transfer occurs from this star to the other. In some systems the gas stream falls directly on to the surface of the accompanying star, but in most cases it forms an accretion disk. All active cataclysmic binary systems are semidetached.

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