Can one star orbit another? (Beginner)

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Details: Tuesday, 16 March 1999 08:12; Answered by Dave Kornreich; Views: 73304

Is it possible for a sun the size of our own sun to orbit around Betelgeuse? Are there any stars that rotate around another star?

Absolutely. There are thousands upon thousands of known "Binary Stars," as they are called. In fact, most stars in our galaxy are in pairs or larger associations. Our sun, being alone with no stellar companion, is actually one of the exceptions.

This page updated on June 27, 2015

About the Author

Dave Kornreich

Dave was the founder of Ask an Astronomer. He got his PhD from Cornell in 2001 and is now an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Science at Humboldt State University in California. There he runs his own version of Ask the Astronomer. He also helps us out with the odd cosmology question.