2009IAUC.9094....1D

K. Davidson and A. Mehner, University of Minnesota; and J. C. Martin, University of Illinois at Springfield, on behalf of a group using the Hubble Space Telescope, report that the central star in eta Car has recently brightened to V = 5.1. This includes a region only 0".3 across, in spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on 2009 Aug. 19. The star now accounts for half of the total light seen in the Homunculus nebula, compared to less than 10 percent before 1995. In view of the central star's 0.6-magnitude brightening since its 2006 peak (Martin et al. 2006, A.J. 132, 2717), unsteadiness in 2007-2008, and 0.5-magnitude increase in mid-2009, eta Car currently merits frequent attention by additional observers. See also http://etacar.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/.