Poster abstract details
Long-term variability in AM CVn systems
Abstract
The AM CVn systems are interacting binaries with orbital periods of less than 70 minutes. Among the notable characteristics of these systems are that they are as they are predicted to be the strongest known sources of gravitation wave radiation. They are also the among the best astrophysical laboratories for probing hydrogen deficient accretion. Of the 22 known AM CVn systems around half are known to show periods of outburst when they increase in optical brightness by typically 3-4 magnitudes. However, the physical processes which cause these outbursts are not well understood.
We have been monitering the brightness of all the known AM CVn systems for the past 8 months using the Liverpool Telescope. So far we have detected several outbursts. This allows us to constrain the frequency of such outbursts as well as identifing traits in the light-curve morphology.
We have been monitering the brightness of all the known AM CVn systems for the past 8 months using the Liverpool Telescope. So far we have detected several outbursts. This allows us to constrain the frequency of such outbursts as well as identifing traits in the light-curve morphology.