Very recently, a number of obscured massive open clusters have been identified in the Milky Way. A very significant fraction of them lie either close to the base of the Scutum Arm or towards Galactic longitude of 350°. We are studying these clusters and their neighbourhoods, finding very good evidence for a major starburst region close to the near tip of the Galactic Long Bar.

Among the longest known eclipse durations and binary periods is that of the star ϵ Aurigae, which exhibits 2-year long eclipses every 27.1 years. Oddly, the nature of the secondary in the system continues to elude ready identification. In 1965, Huang proposed a massive disk as the eclipsing body, and study of the 1984 eclipse led Lissauer and Backman to suggest an embedded B star binary in the disk to maintain it. A collaboration of observers allows me to present recent optical photometry and spectroscopy, near-IR spectroscopy and Spitzer space telescope IRS and MIPS observations of ϵ Aurigae as it approaches its next eclipse. These data argue for current detectability of the embedded binary, and precession of the disk axis, suggesting a radical change is possible for the next mid-eclipse brightening. An international monitoring campaign for the 2009-2011 is being organized, and participation invited via website http://www.du.edu/~rstencel/epsaur.htm.