Transcript: Consider a binary system where a giant or a supergiant star is in orbit around a white dwarf and where a mass transfer between the lobes pushes the white dwarf over the Chandrasekhar limit. At this point the white dwarf collapses catastrophically to form either a neutron star or a...

Transcript: Consider a binary pair where the more massive star has expanded to fill its Roche lobe, and the smaller star is a white dwarf of nearly 1.4 solar masses. As the massive star dumps hydrogen onto the white dwarf the gas is compressed, rapidly heated, and it ignites nuclear reactions...

Transcript: How does mass transfer occur in a close binary pair? The Roche surface or lobes define the region of space where gas is bound to one or both stars. If either star becomes a giant the outer layers swell to fill the lobe, and the teardrop shape becomes the actual surface of the star. ...