spectroscopic binary
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Related to spectroscopic binary: eclipsing binary
spectroscopic binary
n.
A binary star whose components are identified by periodic Doppler shifts of the system's spectral lines as the orbital motion along the line of sight alternates toward and away from Earth.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.