Star system
type of astronomical object, stars which orbit each other
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems. Star systems are not to be confused with planetary systems, which include planets and similar bodies (such as comets).
Terminology
A star system of two stars is known as a binary star, binary star system or physical double star.
Systems with four or more components are rare, and are much less commonly found than those with 2 or 3. Multiple-star systems are called ternary if they contain three stars, quaternary if they contain four, etc.
These systems are smaller than open star clusters, which have more complex dynamics and typically have from 100 to 1,000 stars.
Optical doubles and multiples
Binary and multiple star systems are also known as physical multiple stars, to distinguish them from optical multiple stars, which merely look close together when viewed from Earth. Multiple stars may refer to either optical or physical, but optical multiples do not form a star system.
The public source identifies “Star system” as type of astronomical object, stars which orbit each other. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Star, system and type.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q595871. The Library of Congress control number is sh85088378. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Star system” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.