The peculiar binary system epsilon Aurigae

Over the years, many models have been proposed for the system epsilon Aurigae; and in this communication it is shown that it could be a system where a visible star is eclipsed by a disc of dust and gas orbiting about it and lying in the plane of the orbit. Such a disc must be opaque across its centre but becomes transparent near its edges. It transpires that such a disc could have dimensions consistent with it being a pre-planetary nebula. (Auth.)