Astronomers also need a way to determine which stars are actually binary stars. New research in Astronomy and Astrophysics tackles the problem of discerning binary stars in the SMC. The IMF and the fraction of binary stars in a galaxy influence how stellar systems evolve and how many supernovae explode. The results show that about 14% of stars in the SMC field have a binary companion star at least 60% as massive as themselves. "Furthermore, our result for the SMC field is consistent with the total binary fraction measured for Milky Way field stars of similar primary masses."