An ApJL pre-print “Time-Evolution Images of the Hypergiant RW Cephei During the Re-brightening Phase Following the Great Dimming” appears on ArXiv today: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.11906
This is a follow-up on the 2022 December Great Dimming episode. The authors present analysis of the re-brightening during 2023. They demonstrate that the west side of RW Cep, initially obscured during the dimming phase, reappeared during the subsequent re-brightening phase and the diameter became larger by 8%. They suggest that the dimming of RW Cep was a result from a recent surface mass ejection event, generating a dust cloud that partially obstructed the photosphere.
It is interesting to see that they present a light curve from 1900 to 2024, and other analyses, which to a great extent relies on amateur observations (from the AAVSO database, which encorporates data from the BAA VSS). This shows the value of long term amateur observations.
RW Cep can readily be monitored with binoculars as it varies between mag ~6.2-7.8 We have obs in the BAA VSS database going back to 1969 made by:
S W Albrighton, C M Allen, M Barrett, B J Beesley, M R Bell, P Bibbings, N M Bone, A Brown, P R Clayton, M Currie, H J Davies, D Dobbs, S J Evans, G Fleming, R B I Fraser, V J Freeman, A Gardner, M Glennon, A Good, T Gough, B H Granslo, D Hale-Sutton, M A Hapgood, W Harris, C Henshaw, T L Heywood, P W Hornby, R K Hunt, G M Hurst, J E Isles, B Jobson, S Johnston, S Koushiappas, M Long, T Lubek, B MacDonald, C Mann, T Markham, L McCalman, I A Middlemist, I Miller, P Mulligan, I P Nartowicz, C Newman, M J Nicholls, W Parkes, J Parkinson, R Pearce, D A Pickup, G Pointer, M Poxon, P Quadt, G Ramsay, D W Robinson, T G Saville, D R B Saw, A Smeaton, D M Swain, M D Taylor, G Thompson, J Toone, C Watkins, J Whinfrey, N White, G Winstanley, J D Wise, W J Worraker, E Yusuf