Editing Binary star (section)

==Multiple-star examples==
[[File:Planet_Lost_in_the_Glare_of_Binary_Stars.jpg|thumb|Planet lost in the glare of binary stars (illustration)]]
Systems with more than two stars are termed [[multiple star]]s. [[Algol]] is the most noted ternary (long thought to be a binary), located in the constellation [[Perseus (constellation)|Perseus]]. Two components of the system eclipse each other, the variation in the intensity of Algol first being recorded in 1670 by [[Geminiano Montanari]]. The name Algol means "demon star" (from {{langx|ar|الغول}} ''[[ghoul|al-ghūl]]''), which was probably given due to its peculiar behavior. Another visible ternary is [[Alpha Centauri]], in the southern constellation of [[Centaurus]], which contains the [[list of brightest stars|third-brightest star]] in the night sky, with an [[Apparent magnitude|apparent visual magnitude]] of −0.01. This system also underscores the fact that no search for habitable planets is complete if binaries are discounted. Alpha Centauri A and B have an 11&nbsp;AU distance at closest approach, and both should have stable habitable zones.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Elisa V. Quintana |author2=Fred C. Adams |author3=Jack J. Lissauer |author4=John E. Chambers |title=Terrestrial Planet Formation around Individual Stars within Binary Star Systems |journal=Astrophysical Journal |date=2007 |volume=660 |issue=1 |pages=807–822 |doi=10.1086/512542 |arxiv=astro-ph/0701266 |bibcode=2007ApJ...660..807Q |s2cid=14394432}}</ref>

There are also examples of systems beyond ternaries: [[Castor (star)|Castor]] is a sextuple star system, which is the second-brightest star in the constellation [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]] and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. Astronomically, Castor was discovered to be a visual binary in 1719. Each of the components of Castor is itself a spectroscopic binary. Castor also has a faint and widely separated companion, which is also a spectroscopic binary. The [[Alcor–Mizar]] visual binary in Ursa Majoris also consists of six stars: four comprising Mizar and two comprising Alcor. [[QZ Carinae]] is a complex [[Star system|multiple star system]] made up of at least nine individual stars.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Harmanec |first1=P. |last2=Zasche |first2=P. |last3=Brož |first3=M. |last4=Catalan-Hurtado |first4=R. |last5=Barlow |first5=B. N. |last6=Frondorf |first6=W. |last7=Wolf |first7=M. |last8=Drechsel |first8=H. |last9=Chini |first9=R. |last10=Nasseri |first10=A. |last11=Pigulski |first11=A. |last12=Labadie-Bartz |first12=J. |last13=Christie |first13=G. W. |last14=Walker |first14=W. S. G. |last15=Blackford |first15=M. |date=2022-04-15 |title=Towards a consistent model of the hot quadruple system HD 93206 = QZ Carinae - I. Observations and their initial analyses |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=666 |pages=A23 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202142108 |issn=0004-6361|arxiv=2204.07045 |bibcode=2022A&A...666A..23M }}</ref>