An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A process in a → binary system when a star fills its → Roche lobe, often by becoming a → giant or → supergiant during the later stages of → stellar evolution. When the star expands, any material that passes beyond the Roche lobe will flow onto the binary → companion, often by way of an → accretion disk. This occurs through the → inner Lagrangian point where the gravity of the two stars cancels. The RLOF is responsible for a number of phenomena including → cataclysmic variables, → Type Ia supernovae, and many → X-ray binary systems.

See also: → Roche lobe; → overflow.