Example configurations where the surfaces of the ellipsoids are almost touching. The left panel shows a view of the xz-plane, where the bodies are almost touching at point P₁. The bounding spheres around each body are marked with dotted lines, and are seen to overlap. Point P₂ is at the pole of the primary, and P₃ at the equator. Each connection point P_i corresponds to a position vector r_i between the centroids of the bodies. The right panel shows a view from above of the xy-plane.