Roche lobe
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In astronomy, the Roche lobe is the region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star. It is an approximately teardrop-shaped region bounded
A three-dimensional representation of the Roche potential in a binary star with a mass ratio of 2, in the co-rotating frame. The droplet-shaped figures in the equipotential plot at the bottom of the figure define what are considered the Roche lobes of the stars. L1, L2 and L3 are the Lagrangian points where forces (considered in the rotating frame) cancel out. Mass can flow through the saddle point L1 from one star to its companion, if the star fills its Roche lobe.
Édouard Roche
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Édouard Albert Roche was a French astronomer and mathematician, who is best known for his work in the field of celestial mechanics. His name was given to the concepts of the Roche sphere, Roche limit,
Roche lobe
…together only by gravity begins to break up due to tidal forces. The Roche lobe, Roche limit, and Roche sphere are named after the French astronomer Édouard Roche. In a binary system with a circular orbit, it is often useful to describe the system in a coordinate system that rotates along with the objects. In…
Édouard Roche