Minimum time spans considering that gravitational radiation is the driving evolutionary process of a 1 + 1 M_⊙ (squares), a 5 + 5 M_⊙ (circles), and a 8 + 8 M_⊙ system (up triangles) with various periods for noise levels equal to 0.001 d (left vertical axis) and 0.01 d (right vertical axis). The labels depict the period thresholds at which each system attains the contact configuration. (This figure is available in color in the electronic edition.)