Question

If two stars are close enough will they exert a gravitational pull on one another?

Answer 1

Yes, they do.

Explanation:

Any two masses will be attracted to one another with a gravitational force approximately given by the formula:

`(G m_1 m_2)/d^2`

where:

• `G` is the universal gravitational constant, called "big G" to distinguish it from "little g" (the gravitational force experienced by objects near Earth.

• `m_1` and `m_2` are the masses of the two objects.

• `d` is the distance between their centres of mass.

If two stars are close enough, then they will exert enough gravitational pull on one another to orbit one another around their barycentre.

Many of the bright points of light that we call stars are actually systems of `2` or more stars, orbiting one another. For example, the "Pole star" Polaris is actually a system of `3` stars.