Poster abstract details

UW CrB is a low mass x-ray binary system which has a rare trait - along with typical type 1 x-ray bursts, this system displays powerful, short optical bursts. The current theory for these bursts is that the x-rays are reprocessed to optical wavelengths inside high density regions in the accretion disk. However, it remains unclear whether every x-ray burst produces an optical counterpart, or if the optical bursts only appear at certain phases. Here, we present simultaneous spectroscopy and photometry of UW CrB using the Large Binocular Telescope. In particular, we present the differences in the spectrum before, during and after an optical burst was detected. We also present high time resolution photometry of UW CrB using the Galway UltraFast Imager (GUFI) at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. GUFI allowed us to capture 15s exposures of UW CrB with a readout time of $\approx$ 10ms, meaning we have continuous photometry for 4 hours every night, over 4 different nights, allowing us to constrain the duration of any optical bursts detected.