Terry Winter Owens

Piano

The astronomer William Herschel coined the term “binary star” in 1802 and described it as “the union of two stars, that are formed together in one system, by the laws of attraction."

Joined in a mysterious cosmic dance, Beta Lyrae is one of the strangest of the eclipsing binary star systems. The primary star, classified as a giant, has perhaps twice the mass of our Sun. The secondary star is largely invisible even though it is far, far more massive, with perhaps 12 times the mass of our Sun. A thick, opaque torus of matter orbiting around it and spiral into it largely conceals it from direct observation. The two stars engage in a continuous exchange of matter, the smaller relinquishing its mass to the larger through a spiral train.

One feels that the harmonic interactions of related tones and overtones can be experienced in oneself as a rapturous microcosmic representation of the phenomenon of binary stars and, at the same time, as the ecstasy of lovers.