![028-Beta-Lyrae [028] Beta Lyrae – This illustration by Don Dixon depicts the Beta Lyrae (Sheliak) system, a semidetached binary star system undergoing intense mass transfer. The donor star, an evolved giant, is distorted into an ellipsoidal shape by the gravity of its more massive companion, shedding material into a prominent, glowing accretion disk. This disk, seen here at a high inclination from a hypothetical nearby moon, obscures the secondary star and produces a distinct toroidal structure of ionized gas that spirally dissipates into the surrounding interstellar medium.Oil on masonite, 1974. artwork © Don Dixon/cosmographica.com](028-beta-lyrae-dixon.jpg)
[028] Beta Lyrae – This illustration by Don Dixon depicts the Beta Lyrae (Sheliak) system, a semidetached binary star system undergoing intense mass transfer. The donor star, an evolved giant, is distorted into an ellipsoidal shape by the gravity of its more massive companion, shedding material into a prominent, glowing accretion disk. This disk, seen here at a high inclination from a hypothetical nearby moon, obscures the secondary star and produces a distinct toroidal structure of ionized gas that spirally dissipates into the surrounding interstellar medium.Oil on masonite, 1974. artwork © Don Dixon/cosmographica.com
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![028-Beta-Lyrae [028] Beta Lyrae – This illustration by Don Dixon depicts the Beta Lyrae (Sheliak) system, a semidetached binary star system undergoing intense mass transfer. The donor star, an evolved giant, is distorted into an ellipsoidal shape by the gravity of its more massive companion, shedding material into a prominent, glowing accretion disk. This disk, seen here at a high inclination from a hypothetical nearby moon, obscures the secondary star and produces a distinct toroidal structure of ionized gas that spirally dissipates into the surrounding interstellar medium.Oil on masonite, 1974. artwork © Don Dixon/cosmographica.com](../index.html#img=028-beta-lyrae-dixon.jpg)