Electronic Telegram No. 1654
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html


eta CARINAE
     E. Fernandez-Lajus, Observatorio Astronomico de La Plata, on behalf of
the La Plata Eta Carinae monitoring group (E. Fernandez-Lajus, C. Farina, C.
von Essen, J. P. Calderon, N. E. Salerno, M. A. Schwartz, F. Giudici, A. F.
Torres, F. A. Bareilles, C. Scalia, M. Haucke, and C. Peri), reports that eta
Car has increased its brightness since the beginning of the present observing
season (2008 Nov. 12), which is in agreement with the expectations for the
upcoming 2009.0 event.  The CCD observations are performed using a 0.8-m
f/20 Cassegrain telescope and a standard BVRI filter set at La Plata
Observatory (Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas, Universidad
Nacional de La Plata, Argentina).  All the BVRI light curves reproduce fairly
well those from the previous cycle and range from B = 5.64, V = 4.93, R = 3.98,
and I = 3.51 on Nov. 12 to B = 5.59, V = 4.86, R = 3.97, and I = 3.41 on Dec
30.  Following this behavior, and considering a period of 2022.7 +/- 1.3 days
(Damineli et al. 2008, MNRAS 384, 1649), the maximum brightness is expected
to occur about 2009 Jan. 16.


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 January 5                   (CBET 1654)              Daniel W. E. Green