In the Algol system the lighter star is the older one — a paradox until astronomers realised it had already poured most of its mass onto its companion. Seen edge-on, the pair eclipse each other and the light curve carries alternating deep and shallow dips. Gas spills through the L1 point of the Roche lobe in a stream curved by the Coriolis effect and strikes the disk rim as a hot spot, while the gas piling up on the white dwarf eventually ignites as a nova.
In the Algol system the lighter star is the older one — a paradox until astronomers realised it had already poured most of its mass onto its companion. Seen edge-on, the pair eclipse each other and the light curve carries alternating deep and shallow dips. Gas spills through the L1 point of the Roche lobe in a stream curved by the Coriolis effect and strikes the disk rim as a hot spot, while the gas piling up on the white dwarf eventually ignites as a nova.
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