Snapshot of a numerical simulation of a circumbinary disc captured in the extreme situation in which the cavity size a_cav appears to be larger by a factor ∼21 than the apparent separation d of the binary. The snapshot was produced using the code PHANTOM (Price et al. 2018). It shows a binary with a mass ratio M₂/M₁ = 0.5, semi-major axis a_bin = 1, and eccentricity e_bin = 0.8 close to its pericentre, that is, with a projected binary separation of d ∼ 0.2 a_bin. The binary produces a cavity with an eccentricity e_cav ∼ 0.2 and a semi-major axis a_cav ∼ 4.2 a_bin (consistent with the expected truncation radius by such a binary; see Sect. 3.2), which is equivalent to a_cav ∼ 21 d. The two white dots mark the position of the two binary stars, and the orange and red ellipses show the orbits of the primary and secondary object, respectively. The binary spends far less time at its pericentre than at the apocentre. It is therefore unlikely that the binary is observed in this configuration, but it is still possible.