Stars in Science
Fiction 2014 wiki
Rigel
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 Rigel
Rigel
(Beta Orionis) is a luminous blue supergiant of spectral type B8 Iae,[1] in the
constellation Orion, that is frequently featured in works of science fiction.
The star is actually a visual binary, with the secondary component Rigel B
itself being a spectroscopic binary that has never been resolved visually, and
which taken as a single source is 500 times dimmer and over 2200 AU from its
overwhelming companion Rigel A ("Rigel").[2] This irregular variable
star is the most luminous in our local region of the Milky Way; at about 71
times the diameter of the Sun it would, if viewed from a hypothetical planet at
a distance of 1 AU, subtend an angle of 35° in the sky—when rising or setting
it would extend from the horizon almost halfway up the sky—and it would shine
at a lethal magnitude of −38 (see graphic).[1]
There
is no evidence that the Rigel system hosts any extrasolar planets.[3] However,
several creators of works of science fiction have chosen to populate it with an
unusually large family of worlds.
Rigel
is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star
in the sky, with an apparent magnitude of 0.18. Although it has the Bayer
designation "Beta," it is almost always brighter than Alpha Orionis
(Betelgeuse). Whereas the latter star represents the right shoulder of the
Hunter, Rigel represents his left foot. It is the first star counterclockwise
from Sirius in the Winter Hexagon, and is followed in turn by Aldebaran.
The
star's name is a contraction of Riǧl Ǧawza al-Yusra, this being Arabic for left
foot of the central one. Another Arabic name is riǧl al-ǧabbār, that is, the
foot of the great one.[note 1] It figures prominently in the mythologies of
Egypt, China, Japan, and Oceania.
General
uses of Rigel
Rigel
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:
Sky position: RA 5h 14.5m, Dec -8° 12'
Common designations: Rigel, Beta Orionis, 19 Orionis, HIP 24436, HD 34085
There
follow references to Rigel as a location in space or the center of a planetary
system, categorized by genre:
The Lensman Series (1934–48), novels by E.
E. "Doc" Smith. The Lensman series takes place on many different
worlds over a vast sweep of space. The ancient supercivilization of the Arisians,
originators of the "lens," initiates a breeding program for potential
godlike heroes, the Lensmen, on four worlds of high potential, including the
Earth and Rigel IV—the latter a hot, high-gravity world. "L2"
(Second-Stage Lensman) Kimball Kinnison is the product of the program on Earth,
and L2 Tregonsee is the Rigellian. Smith's work is strongly identified with the
beginnings of US pulp science fiction as a separate marketing genre, and did
much to define its essential territory, galactic space, featuring many planets
such as those orbiting Rigel. The Lensman series is considered far superior to
Smith's Skylark series.[9]
Empire series (1945–1952), short story and
three novels by Isaac Asimov set early in the history of the Galactic Empire
that later dominated his overarching Foundation Series of novels. Rigel, the
name of the star, is assumed by one of its planets in the Empire series. In the
first millennium of the Galactic Era, this world's inhabitants developed a
robot-based civilization that became so decadent and lazy that the effete
Rigellians fell easy victim to the depredations of the warlord Moray.
The Stars My Destination (1956), classic
science fiction novel (titled Tiger! Tiger! in the UK) written by Alfred
Bester, and doubly inspired by Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo and
William Blake's poem "The Tyger" (see graphic). After his apotheosis
in the burning cathedral, the legendary Gully Foyle teleports stark naked to
the vicinity of several stars, including Rigel: "burning blue-white, five
hundred and forty light years from earth, ten thousand times more luminous than
the sun, a cauldron of energy circled by thirty-seven massive
planets..."[note 3][12] The interstellar "jaunting" sequence is
typical of Bester's signature pyrotechnics, his quick successions of hard,
bright images, and mingled images of decay and new life.[13]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
(1979), novel by Douglas Adams. Orion Beta is a star system noted for its
madranite mining belts. At a hyperspace port catering to the belts, Ford
Prefect is taught by the local miners to play a telepathic drinking game
similar to Earth's indian wrestling, except that the players imbibe Ol' Janx
Spirit, a main ingredient in the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Judging by the
star's name, the location of all this is likely to be in the Rigel (Beta
Orionis) system.[22]
Night Train to Rigel (2005), the first
novel in the Quadrail series written by Timothy Zahn. Government agent Frank
Compton is enlisted by the arachnoid operators of the eponymous intra-galactic
rail system to investigate the possibility of a certain WMD being able to slip
past their security barriers. To aid in his inquiries, he is provided with an
unlimited travel pass enabling him to travel, along with a female companion
Bayta, to the ends of the galaxy—and in particular to the Rigel star
system.[note 4]
Film and
television
Star Trek
The items in
this subsection all refer to works in the film, television, and print franchise
originated by Gene Roddenberry. In the Star Trek universe, Rigel lends its name
to at least twelve planets—a large number for a fictional universe—many of
which have been colonized by the Federation.
Not all of these
worlds are in the Beta Orionis planetary system (see graphic), and the name
Rigel is used to describe at least one other star by some aliens. It is also
unclear which, if any, of these bodies is home to the Rigellians, a reptilian
race seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and distinct from the
"one-l" Rigelians of Rigel V.
Note also that,
unlike many creators of works of science fiction, Star Trek eschews the use of
common names for imaginary extrasolar worlds, instead consistently using (or
misusing) the Roman numeral convention (Starname I, II, III, ...[23])—and never
the modern astronomical convention (Starname b, c, d, ...[24]).
"The Cage" (1965; first aired
complete in 1988), original pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. Much of the story's
footage was repurposed in the two-part episode "The Menagerie"
(1966), written by Roddenberry and directed by Marc Daniels. Captain
Christopher Pike and a landing party from the USS Enterprise are attacked
inside an apparently abandoned fortress on Rigel VII by native Kalar warriors.
Three crew members are killed, and seven more are seriously injured. Pike later
regretted his decision to enter the fortress, stating that "the swords and
the armor" should have alerted him to the possibility of a trap.
"Mudd's Women" (1966), episode of
Star Trek: The Original Series written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by
Harvey Hart. The notorious Harcourt Fenton Mudd and three extraordinarily
beautiful women are rescued by the USS Enterprise—to the burgeoning distraction
of the crew. The Enterprise itself is damaged in the adventure, and limps to
the harsh, stormy desert planet Rigel XII, where unknown to Captain Kirk Mudd
secretly cements plans to sell the women to the local miners. (Compare Deneb:
"I, Mudd".)
"Shore Leave" (1966), episode of
Star Trek: The Original Series written by Theodore Sturgeon and directed by
Robert Sparr. Back in his salad days, while enjoying youthful indescretions on
the resort planet Rigel II, Dr. McCoy had become well acquainted with a couple
of scantily-clad ladies from a cabaret chorus line. Now, years later, on the
fantasy-fulfilling "Shore Leave" planet, the alluring pair are
physically recreated from his imagination. He also meets a white rabbit—who
complains of being late.
"Journey to Babel" (1967),
episode of Star Trek: The Original Series written by D. C. Fontana and directed
by Joseph Pevney. Intrigue abounds as an assortment of ambassadors, both real
and dissembled, and including the first appearance Mr. Spock's father Sarek,
board the USS Enterprise en route to negotiations on the neutral planetoid
Babel. The subject of this diplomatic exercise is controversial: Shall the
Coridan system, a prime but hotly contested natural source of dilithium
crystals, be admitted to the Federation? The Rigelians of Rigel V (similar in
physiology to the Vulcans but possessed of four or five genders) also want to
join, and they finally become members in 2184.[25]
"Wolf in the Fold" (1967),
episode of Star Trek: The Original Series written by Robert Bloch and directed
by Joseph Pevney. "Scotty" (Chief Engineer Scott) is accused of the
brutal murder of several female acquaintances on the planet Argelius
II—killings actually carried out by an enigmatic and misogynistic entity that has
cut an ancient and bloody swath across the galaxy, appearing variously through
history as Jack the Ripper on the Earth, and as the woman-killer
"Beratis" on the planet Rigel IV.
"The Passenger" (1993), episode
of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine written by Morgan Gendel et al and directed by
Paul Lynch. During the 2360s, Kobliad fugitive Rao Vantika used a subspace
shunt to access and purge everything in the active memory of computer systems
on Rigel VII. In the "Passenger" episode he seizes mind control of
one of the Deep Space 9 regulars and attempts the same method of attack on the
station itself.
"All Good Things..." (1994),
episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation written by Brannon Braga and Ronald
D. Moore, and directed by Winrich Kolbe. Through the machinations of the
capricious super-being Q, Captain Picard finds his subjective present jumping
between now, 25 years ago, and 25 years from now. In his "ago" state,
the USS Enterprise had just been joined by Lt. Geordi La Forge, who "now"
has retired, become a novelist, and lives with the wife and kids on Rigel III.
"The Wire" (1994), episode of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe and directed by Kim
Friedman. The regular series character and alien Garak is revealed to be a
former member of the Obsidian Order, the much-feared Cardassian intelligence
service, when the interrogation-resisting implant in his brain begins to fail.
Meanwhile, Keiko O'Brien—the wife of the station's Chief Operations Officer
Miles O'Brien—attends a week-long hydroponics conference on the planet Rigel
IV.
"Broken Bow" (2001), pilot
episode of Star Trek: Enterprise written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, and
directed by James Conway. The Klingon courier spy Klaang is pursued across the
galaxy by Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01, and the pursuit
passes through Rigel Colony—a 36-level trade complex populated by numerous
sentient species, huge houseflies, and gorgeous butterflies—on the ice planet
Rigel X. In the bookend final episode of the series, "These Are the
Voyages..." (2005), written by Berman and Braga, directed by Allan
Kroeker, and fashioned as a prequel lead-in to Star Trek: The Original Series,
Rigel X (the original 36-level sets were re-used) is the final world visited by
Captain Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise before its decommissioning.
Other
film and television
"The Plot to Kill a City" (1979),
episodes 106 and 107 in the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
written by Alan Brennert and directed by Dick Lowry. After capturing Raphael
Argus, a notorious assassin who began his career on Altair V, Buck learns that
the killer is to attend a conclave of terrorists. Buck assumes his identity,
discovers a plot to destroy New Chicago, is himself discovered, and manages to
get back to Earth to foil the conspiracy. Certain of the participants in the
terror summit began their criminal careers on Rigel IV.
BraveStarr (1987–1988), animated television
series produced by Lou Scheimer. Handlebar is a hulking, 14-ton, green-skinned
bartender and former space pirate from the Rigel star system, with a bright
orange handlebar mustache and a Brooklyn accent. He mostly serves BraveStarr
and Thirty Thirty a drink called "sweetwater" in his bar, as they sit
and discuss the moral lesson learned in that day's episode.
"Hungry are the Damned" (1990),
second scary tale in the Treehouse of Horror special halloween episode of
Season 2 of The Simpsons, written and directed by the series' extended team.
The Simpsons are abducted from a backyard barbecue by Kang and Kodos, horrific
cyclopean denizens of Rigel VII, who appear to be fattening them up with
sumptuous meals while conducting them back to their home planet in the Rigel
system. By "an astonishing coincidence," the Rigelian tongue is
identical to English. Given this opportunity for communication, Lisa confronts
them with a book she has found on board whose dust-obscured title becomes
elucidated piecemeal in a sequence of ominous/reassuring reveals, upon which
the disgusted aliens return the Simpsons home. See also the episodes
"'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" and "Simpson Tide" (paying
homage to Rigel VII, from Star Trek, qv).[26]
Justice League (2001–2004), animated
television series created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. John Stewart, the
phenotype of the Green Lantern in this series, puts down an uprising on the
planet Rigel IX, but assures justice for all involved.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
(2007), film written by Don Payne and Mark Frost, and directed by Tim Story.
The Earth suffers a series of cosmic disasters at the hands of the Silver
Surfer, harbinger of Galactus, a massive cloud-like cosmic entity which feeds
on life-bearing planets to survive. Galactus has just consumed the planet Rigel
III, and our world is next. In the climax of the film the Surfer sides with
humanity and attacks his master, who is ultimately engulfed in a cosmic rift.
The Silver one is himself killed in the battle ... or is he?
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