It turns out that stellar binary (and even triple and quadruple) systems are quite common. In Chapter 10 we show how we can infer the masses of stars, through the study of stellar binary systems. For some systems, where the inclination of orbits can be determined unambiguously, we can infer the masses of the stellar components, as well as the distance to the system. Together with the observed apparent magnitudes, this also gives the associated luminosities of their component stars.
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