Binary Stars as Critical Tools and Tests in Contemporary Astrophysics (IAU S240) (Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Symposia and Colloquia)

IAU Symposium 240, held in conjunction with the 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, highlights the latest advances in the field of binary and multiple stars, and was the first major meeting in recent years bringing together members of both the 'wide' and 'close' binary communities. Topics discussed ranged from common proper motion pairs and other 'fragile' binaries to contact binaries and star/brown-dwarf/planet systems, exploring the numerous interests common to all binary star researchers. Highlights included talks on observing binaries using high angular and spectral resolution techniques, the impacts of new and planned large-scale surveys, recent models for binary evolution, new methods for analyzing cataclysmic pairs and disentangling spectra, surveys of extragalactic eclipsing binaries, Doppler tomography and imaging, and binaries as probes of the Galaxy's chemical and dynamical evolution. This volume will be an important reference source for binary star researchers for many years to come.