Other EB Sites

  • GCVS query page, for information about a particular variable star.  The home page for the site has links to where you can download the entire GCVS catalogue.  This is useful if you want to filter the database so identify observing targets.
  • The AAVSO International Variable Star Index (VSX) query page.  Can also be searched from the AAVSO home page.  Data for specific stars is often more up-to-date than the GCVS.
  • An explanation of how to use observations of EBs to calculate the mass of stars.
  • An Eclipsing Binary Simulator:  sliders and data entry boxes let you describe the two stars and the properties of the binary system.  It shows you the light curve of such a system, and provides a 3D animation.  This site is very useful for gaining an appreciation of how changing system parameters affect the light curve, but it has some limitations:  the stars are always spherical (doesn't respect the distorted shape of very close systems), and it will simulate physically impossible systems (e.g. very large, very hot stars, with very tiny mass).
  • BinaryMaker is a very nice tool, but unfortunately not free.  It does more accurate modeling than the above site.  There is an associated library of pre-built parameter sets for many real EBs.
  • Information in French (by Jean-Bruno Desrosiers)
  • A site that was active for AAVSO EB obervers 10+ years ago.  Useful material here, especially the data for the Terrell Mukherjee and Wilson atlas in machine readable form.