Concept information
Preferred term
X-ray binary
Definition(s)
- X-ray binaries are a class of binary stars that are luminous in X-rays. The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component, called the donor (usually a relatively normal star), to the other component, called the accretor, which is very compact: a neutron star or black hole. The infalling matter releases gravitational potential energy, up to several tenths of its rest mass, as X-rays. (Hydrogen fusion releases only about 0.7 percent of rest mass.) The lifetime and the mass-transfer rate in an X-ray binary depends on the evolutionary status of the donor star, the mass ratio between the stellar components, and their orbital separation. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_binary)
Broader concept(s)
Synonym(s)
- X-ray binary star
In other languages
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French
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source RX binaire
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-M73GC77S-J
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