the star starts to return to maximum brightness almost immediately from its minimum, although occasionally this is interrupted by another fade. The cause of this behaviour is believed to be a regular build-up of carbon dust in the star's atmosphere. The sudden drop in brightness may be caused by a rapid condensation of carbon-rich dust similar to soot, resulting in much of the star's light being blocked. The gradual restoration to normal brightness results from the dust being dispersed by radiation pressure. In August 2007, R Coronae Borealis began a fade to an unprecedented minimum. It fell to 14th magnitude in 33 days, then continued to fade slowly, dropping below 15th magnitude in June 2009. It then began an equally slow rise, not reaching 12th magnitude until late 2011. This was an unusually deep and exceptional long minimum, longer even than a deep five year minimum which had occurred in 1962–7. It then faded again to near 15th magnitude, and by August 2014 it had been below 10th magnitude for 7 years. In late 2014, it brightened quickly to 7th magnitude but then began to fade again. By mid-2017, it had been below its "normal" brightness for ten years. It also reached a new record faintest at magnitude 15.2. Spectrum R Coronae Borealis at maximum light shows the spectrum a late F or early G yellow supergiant, but with marked peculiarities. Hydrogen lines are weak or absent, while carbon lines and molecular bands of cyanogen (CN) and C2 are exceptionally strong. Helium lines and metals such as calcium are also present. The spectrum is variable, most obviously during the brightness fades. The normal absorption spectrum is replaced by emission lines, especially HeI, CaII, NaI, and other metals. The lines are typically very narrow at this stage. Helium emission lines sometimes show P Cygni profiles. In deep minima, many of the metal lines disappear although the Ca doublet remains strong. Forbidden "nebular" lines of [OI], [OII], and [NII] can be detected at times. The spectrum at maximum indicates that hydrogen in R Coronae Borealis is strongly depleted, helium is the dominant element, and carbon is strongly enhanced. At minimum, the spectrum shows the development of carbon clouds that obscure the photosphere, leaving chromospheric lines visible at times. Properties R Coronae Borealis is about 90% helium and less than 1% hydrogen. The majority of the remainder is carbon. This classifies it as