A field guide to the binary stars

For most of the history of binary star astronomy, systems have been classified largely on the basis of how they were discovered and qualitative appearance of their spectra and light curves. Our understanding of single and double star evolution has now progessed to the point where most of the classes previously identified, and some new ones, can be arranged into evolutionary sequences, depending primarily on the initial masses and separation of the component stars. © 1983 Nature Publishing Group