The name Capella means Little She Goat. Her kids are nearby. The Kids is an asterism, that is, an informal constellation, like the Big Dipper and the Belt of Orion. The most interesting star of the Kids is Epsilon Aurigae. Epsilon is a most interesting eclipsing binary star.
Most eclipsing binaries have periods in terms of days.
The period of Epsilon is 27 years, and the eclipses last nearly 2 years. The partial phase of the eclipse lasts 4 months each at the beginning and end of the eclipse. The last eclipse was in the period 1982-84. The next eclipse will occur in 2009-11. The depth of the eclipse dims the star by 0.8 of a magnitude.