A binary pair of stars in orbit

A binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound and in orbit around each other. Or, to be more precise, the stars orbit around their common centre of mass. This animation shows an example of how such a system might behave. Here, the stars are in a detached configuration, where two stars are physically separated and have little effect on how each other evolves.  This animation was originally produced for an ESO Chasing Starlight episode on the strangest stars in our Universe.