Speaker: Gavin Ramsay, Armagh Observatory, College Hill Armagh

Title: Outbursts from ultra-compact binaries

Abstract: 

AM CVn binaries have orbital periods between 5 - 70 mins and composed of a degenerate star accreting from a degenerate (or semi degenerate) star.

Their accretion flows are devoid of hydrogen and are predicted to be the first sources detected by space based gravitational wave detectors such as eLISA-NGO. I will present an overview of a survey of these systems using the Liverpool Telescope to determine their optical outburst properties and X-ray/UV/Optical observations of one system, KL Dra over an outburst cycle.