Roche lobe

English

Noun

Roche lobe (plural Roche lobes)

1. (astronomy) The teardrop-shaped region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star.
   • 2002, Juhan Frank, Andrew King, Derek Raine, Accretion Power in Astrophysics, page 54:

     A further interesting situation (although not one of much relevance for this book) comes about if both stars for some reason fill their Roche lobes simultaneously.

   • 2012, C. de Loore, C. Doom, Structure and Evolution of Single and Binary Stars, page 386:

     Generally, mass transfer by Roche lobe overflow is required to power LMXRB's, since low mass stars never exhibit strong stellar winds.

   • 2013, Josef Kallrath, Eugene F. Milone, Eclipsing Binary Stars: Modeling and Analysis, page 85:

     If only one component accurately fills its Roche lobe the system is semi-detached. If neither fills its Roche lobe, it is detached.