How does an eclipsing binary system resolve the inclination uncertainty that plagues standard spectroscopic binaries?
Answer
Because the orbit is nearly edge-on, the inclination $i$ is close to $90^ ext{\circ}$, meaning $\sin i \approx 1$.
When a system is viewed edge-on, the inclination is near $90^ ext{\circ}$, effectively making $\sin i$ close to 1. This removes the need to estimate or model the inclination angle when calculating mass from observed radial velocity.
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