Schematic of mass loss through the L₂ Lagrangian point. Two equipotential surfaces (dotted and dashed-dotted curves) are shown in the corotating frame of the binary system. The thick plus sign represents the system’s center of mass, and the thick crosses represent the locations of the L₁, through which the donor transfers mass to the accretor, and L₂ points, respectively. The mass that is not accreted is lost through the L₂ point indicated by the thick pink line. The red arrows pointing from the accretor to the L₂ point are only for schematic purposes.