Scientists say they still “don’t completely understand” what happened to the star Betelgeuse, one of the brightest in the night sky.

The star has been behaving strangely for years, after it got darker and led to suspicions that it might be about to explode into supernova.

But instead something perhaps even more unusual is happening to the star: it is recovering from its dramatic explosion and is now “sort of bouncing”, according to scientists who have been tracking it.

That is the conclusion of scientists who have been using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other equipment to observe the star, its explosion and the after effects.

Scientists have been fascinated by Betelgeuse for centuries: it is one of the brightest stars in our night sky, and they have been watching the regular rhythm of its pulses for some 200 years.

But, in 2019, it began to behave differently. Scientists suspect that it literally exploded, producing a huge surface mass ejection or SME.

Read more: Independent