Astronomers were surprised in 1937 when a star in a binary pair suddenly brightened by 1,000 times. The pair is called FU Orionis (FU Ori), and it’s in the constellation Orion. The sudden and extreme variability of one of the stars has resisted a complete explanation, and since then, FU Orionis has become the name for other stars that exhibit similar powerful variability.
Continue reading “A Star Became 1,000 Times Brighter, and Now Astronomers Know Why”A Star Became 1,000 Times Brighter, and Now Astronomers Know Why
![Artist’s impression of one of the two stars in the FU Orionis binary system, surrounded by an accreting disk of material. What has caused this star — and others like it — to dramatically brighten? [NASA/JPL-Caltech]](https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PIA20689_fig1.jpg)