Walshie79

Just caught it again, bright twilight so less easy to judge but still seems noticeably fainter than Aldebaran, though again brighter than Bellatrix.

And I can see Sirius! In August, never done that before.

It's back!

Caught it just now, and although it's now clearly brighter than Bellatrix and Alnath, it still seems to be fainter than Aldebaran though not by a huge amount. It's not as bright as I was expecting. I'd still go with the last estimate of 1.2 I posted back at the end of March. Will keep an eye on it as it gets higher in the sky...

Back to first magnitude now. About equal with Aldebaran and Pollux, clearly brighter than Bellatrix, still fainter than Procyon. Estimate 1.2, at its faintest I had it around 1.9

Also it is definitely closer to Castor than Pollux in terms of brightness

I had a good look earlier; it seems to have dimmed even more compared to 2-3 weeks ago. If brighter than Bellatrix only by 0.1 mag or so, much fainter than Pollux, not noticeably brighter than Elnath or Castor. It looks more 2nd than 1st magnitude. I'd guess 1.6- it's unfortunate that Adhara (epsilon CMaj), which is about 1.5, doesn't rise more than a few degrees as it would be a good comparison.

And just now I could briefly see Betelgeuse and Regulus simultaneously; I think Betelgeuse is fainter. Also Betelgeuse is not visible through thin clouds that keep swirling around in front of the stars while the other bright stars nearby (Rigel, Procyon, Sirius) are.

I'd put Betelgeuse at around 1.4 at the moment

Just been out for a look, first clear night since I heard about this.

It's much dimmer than "normal". I've known it be as bright as Rigel, but now as I see it's: 

Clearly fainter than Aldebaran

Slightly fainter than Pollux

Still brighter than Bellatrix, but not by much

Will compare it to Regulus when that rises to a decent altitude.

Just popped outside where I am and it's a bit hazy but visible. Could see a red tinge to the umbra and a nice thick "crescent" at the lower part.