The end of eclipse

The next few days mark the closest approach of the Sun to epsilon Aurigae, as part of the annual solar motion.  This also makes observations rather difficult, given the lingering twilight and the high airmasses involved.  At last report, epsilon appeared to be between 3.2 and 3.3 mag, visual.  This is behind schedule, relative to predictions based on prior eclipse light curves - epsilon Aurigae was predicted to have reached full brightness, mag 3.0, by mid-May 2011.  The evidence suggests that this portion of the disk may be less transparent than the corresponding ingress portion of the disk.

Relative to mid-eclipse, which occurred in late July 2010, circa JD 2,455,400, we are now ~310 days later.  The start of eclipse began approximately 350 days prior to mid-eclipse, so emergence from eclipse could be as late as late June/early July.  Over the coming weeks, anyone able to make a visual assessment or photometric measurement is encouraged to report their findings here at CitizenSky.org .