Dust Today, Gone Tomorrow: Astronomers Discover Houdini-Like Vanishing Act in Space
July 5, 2012 - ScienceDaily
...
The dust had been present around the star since at least 1983 (no one
had observed the star in the infrared before then), and it continued to
glow brightly in the infrared for 25 years. In 2009, it started to dim.
By 2010, the dust emission was gone; the astronomers observed the star
twice that year from the Gemini Observatory in Chile, six months apart.
An infrared image obtained by the Gemini telescope as recently as May 1
of this year confirmed that the warm dust has now been gone for
two-and-a-half years.
...