Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Roche Lobe

Gravitational force holds each and every particle of the star within a range of distance. The pull of gravity is effective for some distance and after which the effect fades away. For example: The gravitational pull of the Earth is effective only for 1000 km until which the atmosphere extends. After that, the pull is no longer felt and an object can easily escape to the vacuum. The same applies for a star. The region of space around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star is called as the Roche lobe.
If the star expands past its Roche lobe, then the material can escape the gravitational pull of the star. Roche limit is the distance at which an object held together only by gravity begins to break up due to tidal forces.The Roche lobe, Roche limit and Roche sphere are named after the French astronomer Ă‰douard Roche.
 The droplet-shaped figures in the equipotential plot at the bottom of the figure are called the Roche lobes of each star

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