Special Notice #205: Rapid fading in the luminous blue variable S Doradus
April 15, 2010: Noel D. Richardson and Douglas R. Gies (Georgia State University) announced on 2010 April 14 (Astronomer's Telegram #2560) that S Doradus is currently fading in optical brightness, while its hydrogen Balmer line (H-alpha) brightness is increasing. The V-band magnitude of S Dor (as measured by ASAS-3; Pojmanski, G., 2002, AcA 52, 397) has been declining for more than a thousand days. The star began a more rapid decline earlier this year, and is now fainter than V=9.5.