BY Dra has been extensively monitored for flares and spot-modulation of brightness at the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory (Panov & Ivanova 1993). Its mean light level exhibited remarkable changes in the past, due to the emergence and disintegration of photospheric spots, and different cycles have been proposed for the long-term changes of the BY Dra activity. This star is still believed to be a good candidate for cyclic variations, presumably similar to the sunspot activity cycle. After a spectacular drop in brightness in 1965 — 1967, and a subsequent rise in the early 70s, the mean light remained approximately constant during 1977 - 1991. A brightening of BY Dra occurred in 1992.

In Fig. 1, the light curves are shown for 1991, 1992 and 1993 in the V-band and in B — V. Phases were calculated with the ephemeris of Chugainov (1966):

JD (min. light) = 2438983.612 + 3.836 · E

From Fig. 1, it is apparent that the mean visual light, which was about V = 8.20 in 1991, increased in 1992 by 0m.10, and a further increase by another 0m.03 occurred in 1993. The phase of minimum light in 1992 indicates that the position of the spot remained approximately the same in stellar longitude as in 1991. However, in 1993 the position of the spot changed by almost half a period.