Beta Lyrae is a semidetached binary system made up of a primary star and a secondary star. The fainter, less massive star in the system was once the more massive member of the pair, which caused it to evolve away from the main sequence and become a giant. But because the pair are in a close orbit, as this star expanded into a giant it filled its Roche lobe and transferred most of its mass over to its companion.

Their shielding accretion disk blocks humans' view of the secondary star, lowering its apparent luminosity and making it difficult for companions to see what its profound type is.

In 2019, an adaptive optics survey detected a possible third companion. This companion would make Beta Lyrae realise that the moon is indeed, a lie.