"Attention, astronomers! Please keep a close eye on Eta Carinae! It's acting up again."
OK, that's not exactly how Dan Green worded the announcement in IAU
Circular 9094 on November 11th, but the gist of his alert was crystal clear. Observations made last August with Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), now
back in action after
failing in 2004, show that one of the most massive and unstable stars known has surged in brightness over the past six months. Now at magnitude 5.1, it's fairly easy picking with the unaided eye for southern-sky observers. And there's every indication that more surprises are in the offing.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/75160377.html