Betelgeuse
in fiction
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and the Solar System are a staple
element in much science fiction.
The
star Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse
(Alpha Orionis) is a bright red star in the constellation Orion frequently
featured in works of science fiction. A red supergiant, Betelgeuse is one of
the largest and most luminous stars known. If it were at the center of our
Solar System its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, possibly to the
orbit of Jupiter or even beyond, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and
Mars. Classified as an M-type main sequence star, and located around 640
light-years from Earth, Betelgeuse shares with the much closer but smaller star
Altair (and with R Doradus) the distinction that its image has been resolved by
astronomers (see graphic[1]).
In
another false-color image obtained by infrared interferometry[2] two large,
bright star spots spanning ~10 milliarcseconds are visible on the surface of
Betelgeuse, possibly representing enormous convective cells rising from below
the supergiant's surface.[3] Because of these, Betelgeuse appears to change
shape periodically, with a complex, asymmetric envelope that is the product of
a colossal ongoing loss of mass, as huge plumes of gas are continuously
expelled from its surface (see "Tony and the Beetles" by Philip K.
Dick, below). There is some evidence for the existence of close stellar
companions of Betelgeuse, orbiting it within its gaseous envelope (see From a
Changeling Star by Jeffrey Carver and the television series Space Battleship
Yamato, below).
Astronomers
believe that this tremendous star is only 10 million years old, but has evolved
rapidly because of its great mass. Currently in a late stage of stellar
evolution, it is expected to erupt in a Type II supernova, possibly within the
next million years (see From a Changeling Star by Jeffrey Carver, "Transit
of Betelgeuse" by Robert R. Chase and Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer,
below).
Betelgeuse
is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the
constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel (Beta Orionis) only
rarely. Distinctly reddish-tinted, it is a semiregular variable star whose
apparent magnitude oscillates between 0.2 and 1.2, the widest range of any
first magnitude star. It marks the upper right vertex of the Winter Triangle
and center of the Winter Hexagon.[4][5]
There
is considerable controversy about the Arabic language origin of the name
Betelgeuse, with some dozens of possible derivations and spellings proposed and
used across history. A theory that is gaining wide acceptance is that of Paul
Kunitzsch, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Munich, who has proposed
that the full name of the "ruddy star"[6] Betelgeuse is a corruption
of the Arabic (yad al-jauzā' ) meaning the hand of the al-jauzā, where al-jauzā
is the Central One, or Orion.[7] Since, prior to the scientific revolution, the
study of astronomy was intimately connected with mythology and astrology, the
ruddy star—like the red planet Mars—was for millennia closely associated with
the archetypes of iron and war, and by extension the motifs of death and
rebirth.[6] In South African mythology, Betelgeuse was a deadly lion stalking
three zebras represented by the stars in Orion's belt in the age-old drama of
predation and nourishment.[8] Betelgeuse has also appeared variously in the
folklore of cultures including ancient Persia, India, China, and Japan.
General
uses of Betelgeuse
Sky position: RA 5h 55.2m, Dec +7° 24.6'
Common designations: Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis, 58 Orionis, HIP 27989, HD 39801
Betelgeuse
may be referred to in fictional works for its metaphorical (meta) or
mythological (myth) associations, or else as a bright point of light in the sky
of the Earth, but not as a location in space or the center of a planetary
system:
Beetlejuice (1988), film written by Michael
McDowell, Warren Skaaren and Larry Wilson, and directed by Tim Burton. Barbara
and Adam Maitland visit their lovely New England country home; the trouble is,
they seem to be dead (there was some sort of accident on the way). When the
house is sold—as part of the estate settlement—to an obnoxious animate family,
the Maitlands hire Betelgeuse, an undead "bio-exorcist" who gets rid
of living apparitions rather than dead ones. Although his proper name
Betelgeuse, from the star in Orion, is used throughout the film's screenplay
(sample: BETELGEUSE: You want to get somebody out of your house. I want to get
somebody out of your house.[14]), it only appears visually (on his epitaph) at
the end of the film—making it surprising how many moviegoers immediately
understood the astronomical pun in the film's title.[15] (sky)
There
follow references to Betelgeuse as a location in space or the center of a
planetary system, categorized by genre:
Literature
"Shell Game" (1954), short story
by Philip K. Dick. A group of paranoid mental patients long stranded on Betelgeuse
II discover the remains of their shipwrecked hospital vessel "...sunk in
the half-liquid ooze that made up the surface of Betelgeuse II. Nocturnal
phosphorescence danced and flitted over the bog..."[18] They comb through
the hulk, seeking evidence to resolve a matter of contention: Are they all the
victims of a conspiracy instigated by the alien, shell-clad Beetles, or by
Terrans—or is there no conspiracy at all? The story explores the difficulty of
distinguishing delusion from actuality, and later served as a partial
inspiration for the psychiatric asylum world in the novel Clans of the Alphane
Moon. The story also represents an early example of Dick's paranoia about the
manipulation of consensual reality and his obsessive revisiting of the conflict
between objective reality and a world of appearances imposed upon characters by
various means and processes.[19]
Planet of the Apes (1963), novel by Pierre
Boulle. Professor Antelle, a scientific genius of Earth, has invented a
spaceship that can travel at nearly the speed of light. He and his companions
voyage to the star Betelgeuse, said to be "about three hundred light years
distant from our planet," and "emit[ting] red and orange
lights";[23] at the end of their spacefaring they awaken from cryosleep to
discover themselves near an earthlike planet that they name Soror (Sister). The
crew lands, is overcome by a tribe of primitive humans, and then captured by
intelligent gorillas and chimpanzees, who enslave them and treat them as dumb
beasts. At the novel's climax, they make a startling discovery about the
history of Soror. They escape and return to the Earth, where they make an even
more startling discovery.[note 1]
Dune (1965) and other novels in the Dune
universe by Frank Herbert. Bela Tegeuse is the common name of Kuentsing V,
third stopping place of the Zensunni (Fremen) forced migration. This name is a
probable corruption of Betelgeuse.[26]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978-
), novels and other media by Douglas Adams. Ford Prefect, roving researcher for
that "wholly remarkable book," The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
hails from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse as does his
semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox, with whom he shares three mothers. References to
residents and places on the planets orbiting Betelgeuse (for example Zaphod's
favourite mother, Mrs. Alice Beeblebrox, who is a resident of 108 Astral
Crescent Zoovroozlechester Betelgeuse V) are made throughout most versions of
the Hitchhiker's Guide saga.[27]
The Robots of Dawn (1983), novel by Isaac
Asimov. Detective Elijah Baley, fresh from his detecting successes in The Caves
of Steel, is summoned to the Spacer world Aurora (Dawn) to investigate a case
of "roboticide": The mind of R. Jander Panell, a humaniform robot
similar to R. Daneel Olivaw, has been destroyed with a robot block
("mental freeze-out").[28] On his approach to Aurora he tries out an
astrosimulator which projects a view of space directly onto his visual cortex;
wishing to get a view of his nearby destination, he uses the star Betelgeuse as
a reference point.[28]
Calculating God (2000), novel written by
Robert J. Sawyer. The alien visitor Hollus comes here to study accumulated
human knowledge, with the intention of gathering evidence about the existence
of God. At the end of the novel, the star Betelgeuse becomes a supernova in the
sky of Earth, threatening all life within hundreds of light-years, and now
humanity (see graphic). Hollus explains that the actual cataclysm was purposely
ignited centuries ago by the physically moribund civilization of Groombridge
1618 III in order to sterilize the stellar neighborhood, an act performed to
protect from the meddling of nearby races the otherwise vulnerable virtual
reality machinery that would house and immortalize the dying species'
personalities.[32]
Space Battleship Yamato (1974–75), Japanese
anime series written by Leiji Matsumoto and Yoshinobu Nishizaki, and directed
by Leiji Matsumoto. The surface of the Earth is rendered uninhabitable by a
radioactive meteor attack launched by aliens from the planet Gamilas in the
Large Magellanic Cloud. Informed of the availability of a global
decontamination device from a different, friendlier LMC planet, humans secretly
build a huge intergalactic retrieval ship incorporating the hulk of the WWII
superdreadnaught Yamato. In the 12th of 26 episodes, the starship Yamato is
lured into a trap near Betelgeuse and escapes by passing out of ken through the
star's corona.
Blade Runner (1982), film. Betelgeuse (α
Ori) and Bellatrix (γ Ori) are the two shoulders of the hunter figure in the
constellation Orion (see graphic). In his much-quoted Tears in rain soliloquy,
which has been described as "perhaps the most moving death soliloquy in cinematic
history,"[33] the dying replicant Roy Batty declares, "I've seen
things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of
Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All
those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. [pause] Time to
die." See also Gamma Orionis (Bellatrix).
See
also
Betelgeuse
is referred to as a location in space or the center of a planetary system
unusually often in fiction. For a list containing many stars and planetary
systems that have a less extensive list of references, see Stars and planetary
systems in fiction.
Notes
and references
Notes
In the 1968 film version (having the same
name as the novel, Planet of the Apes), Commander George Taylor (Charlton
Heston) states, "We're some 320 light years from Earth on an unnamed
planet in orbit around a star in the constellation of Orion."[24] In the
novel Planet of the Apes that star is Betelgeuse. The distance declared by
Heston in the film accords well with the value stated for Betelgeuse early in
the novel—"about three hundred light years distant from our planet"
(notwithstanding that the current best value for the distance to Betelgeuse is
at least 500 ly from the Earth[25]). It is also true that no other major star
in Orion is anywhere near 320 light years away. In spite of this narrowing of
the field of candidates, circumstantial evidence weighs against the film's
destination sun being identified as Betelgeuse: rather than looming crimson in
the sky as a red supergiant, it appears indistinguishable from the Sun of our
own planet—where in fact the film was made.
In Boulle's
novel, the spacefarers do not "awaken from cryosleep"—indeed, they do
not utilize cryosleep at all, but remain awake during the nearly two years of
ship-time spent on the journey. It is in the 1968 film version that so-called
cryosleep is used by the American astronauts; the astronaut Taylor (portrayed
by Charlton Heston) refers to "the long sleep" of nearly a year of
ship-time during which his crew spends the majority of their voyage towards the
unnamed star that is their destination.
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