Roche
Lobe Overflow
€Semi-detached Þ secondary star fills its Roche lobe so that it is distorted into a pear
shape.
€At Lagrangian 1 (L1) point,
gravitational and centrifugal forces cancel and material is lost from
the secondary star into the primary Roche lobe.
€Material falls towards the white dwarf in a stream
€The 4 other stationary points
L2 – L5 are
important for
orbit theory
2
credit:
csep10.phys.utk.edu
credit:
www.genesismission.org