Binary star formation also results from the collapse of an interstellar gas cloud. The binary components must form together at the same time. Creation of a binary star system through gravitational capture is a virtual impossibility, and could only happen under the most exotic circumstances. If the orbital plane of a binary system intersects our line of sight, then these stars will eclipse one another as they revolve around their common center of mass. The brightness drops quickly, the bottom of the curve is fairly flat, and the brightness then increases just as quickly.
Partial eclipses produce different light curves, which are more saw-toothed in nature.
Dr. Linnell has helped develop a computer program to model stellar eclipses. The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, is a binary system. Sirius A is on the main sequence. But the second component, Sirius B, is a white dwarf it is at the end of its evolution. It has to do with binary star evolution.