Epislon Aurigae near minimum light, mid-January

You might want to make the effort to get outside and estimate the visual brightness of epsilon Aurigae now, as it appears to be close to a minimum, about 3.75.  This is possibly the faintest it will be this year and for years to come, if the end of eclipse begins in mid/late March as forecast.  This assumes that the recent ~67 day in eclipse light variation behavior persists.  In that event, we should see return to a local maximum, perhaps V ~ 3.65 in mid/late Feb, followed by a decline - until third contact.