An international study led by Monash University astronomers focusing on an infamous star in Orion may help to shed light on how the solar system formed.

In 1936, over the course of the year, a previously unremarkable faint star in Orion, FU Ori, became 250 times brighter.

“FU Ori has remained bright ever since,” said Elisabeth Borchert, the lead author of the study to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).