"The star's unusual name inspired the title of the 1988 film ""Beetlejuice"", and script writer Michael McDowell was impressed by how many people made the connection. In the popular science fiction series ""The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"" by Douglas Adams, Ford Prefect was from ""a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse."" Two American navy ships were named after the star, both of them World War II vessels, the launched in 1939 and launched in 1944. In 1979, a French supertanker named ""Betelgeuse"" was moored off Whiddy Island discharging oil when it exploded, killing 50 people in one"
"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. There is considerable controversy about the Arabic language origin of the name Betelgeuse, with some dozens of possible derivations and spellings proposed"
"to the first character ""y"" (ﻴ, with two dots underneath) being misread as a ""b"" (ﺒ, with only one dot underneath). During the Renaissance, the star's name was written as ' (""house of Orion"") or ', incorrectly thought to mean ""armpit of Orion"" (a true translation of ""armpit"" would be , transliterated as "")"". This led to the modern rendering as ""Betelgeuse"". Other writers have since accepted Kunitzsch's explanation. The last part of the name, ""-elgeuse"", comes from the Arabic ', a historical Arabic name of the constellation Orion, a feminine name in old Arabian legend, and of uncertain meaning."
"to cause significant effects on Earth. Following Betelgeuse's supernova, a small dense remnant will be left behind, either a neutron star or black hole. This is predicted to be a neutron star of approximately . Betelgeuse has been known as ""Betelgeux"", and in German ""Beteigeuze"" (according to Bode). ""Betelgeux"" and ""Betelgeuze"" were used until the early 20th century, when the spelling ""Betelgeuse"" became universal. Consensus on its pronunciation is weak and is as varied as its spellings: Betelgeuse is often mistranslated as ""armpit of the central one"". In his 1899 work ""Star-Names and Their Meanings"", American amateur naturalist Richard Hinckley"
"Allen stated the derivation was from the """", which he claimed degenerated into a number of forms including ""Bed Elgueze"", ""Beit Algueze"", ""Bet El-gueze"", ""Beteigeuze"" and more, to the forms ""Betelgeuse"", ""Betelguese"", ""Betelgueze"" and ""Betelgeux"". The star was named ""Beldengeuze"" in the ""Alfonsine Tables"", and Italian Jesuit priest and astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli had called it ""Bectelgeuze"" or ""Bedalgeuze"". Paul Kunitzsch, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Munich, refuted Allen's derivation and instead proposed that the full name is a corruption of the Arabic """" meaning ""the Hand of ""al-Jauzā<nowiki>'""</nowiki>"", ""i.e."", Orion. European mistransliteration into medieval Latin led"
"Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, abbreviated Alpha Ori, α Ori), is on average the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. It is distinctly reddish, and is a semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. Betelgeuse is one of three stars that make up the asterism of the Winter Triangle, and it marks the center of the Winter Hexagon. If the human eye could view all wavelengths of radiation, Betelgeuse would be the brightest star in the night sky. Classified"
"', meaning ""the hand of Orion"" (see below). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN, which included ""Betelgeuse"" for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. Betelgeuse and its red coloration have been noted since antiquity; the classical astronomer Ptolemy described its color as ὑπόκιρρος (""hypókirrhos""), a term that was later described by a translator of Ulugh"
"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. Betelgeuse in fiction The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun, such as Betelgeuse, are a staple element in much science fiction. 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"
"Beg's ""Zij-i Sultani"" as ""rubedo"", Latin for ""ruddiness"". In the nineteenth century, before modern systems of stellar classification, Angelo Secchi included Betelgeuse as one of the prototypes for his Class III (orange to red) stars. By contrast, three centuries before Ptolemy, Chinese astronomers observed Betelgeuse as having a yellow coloration; if accurate, such an observation could suggest the star was in a yellow supergiant phase around the beginning of the Christian era, a possibility given current research into the complex circumstellar environment of these stars. The variation in Betelgeuse's brightness was first described in 1836 by Sir John Herschel, when"
"""Menkib al Jauza al Aisr"", which was translated into Latin as ""Humerus Sinister Gigantis"". The Wardaman people of northern Australia know Bellatrix as ""Banjan"", the sparkling pigment used in ceremonies conducted by Rigel the Red Kangaroo Leader in a songline when Orion is high in the sky. The other stars of Orion are his ceremonial tools and entourage. Betelgeuse is ""Ya-jungin"" ""Owl Eyes Flicking"", watching the ceremonies. To the Inuit, the appearance of Betelgeuse and Bellatrix high in the southern sky after sunset marked the beginning of spring and lengthening days in late February and early March. The two stars"
"to the fields and plough. To the Inuit, the appearance of Betelgeuse and Bellatrix high in the southern sky after sunset marked the beginning of spring and lengthening days in late February and early March. The two stars were known as ""Akuttujuuk"" ""those (two) placed far apart"", referring to the distance between them, mainly to people from North Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula. The opposed locations of Orion and Scorpius, with their corresponding bright red variable stars Betelgeuse and Antares, were noted by ancient cultures around the world. The setting of Orion and rising of Scorpius signify the death of"
"Betelgeuse in fiction The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun, such as Betelgeuse, are a staple element in much science fiction. 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"
"of the worst disasters in Ireland's history. The Dave Matthews Band song ""Black and Blue Bird"" references the star.The Philip Larkin poem ""The North Ship"", found in the collection of the same name, references the star in the section titled ""Above 80° N"", which reads:"" 'A woman has ten claws,' / Sang the drunken boatswain; / Farther than Betelgeuse, / More brilliant than Orion / Or the planets Venus and Mars, / The star flames on the ocean; / 'A woman has ten claws,' / Sang the drunken boatswain.""Humbert Wolfe wrote a poem about Betelgeuse, which was set to music"
"Orion by the scorpion. In China they signify brothers and rivals Shen and Shang. The Batak of Sumatra marked their New Year with the first new moon after the sinking of Orion's Belt below the horizon, at which point Betelgeuse remained ""like the tail of a rooster"". The positions of Betelgeuse and Antares at opposite ends of the celestial sky were considered significant and their constellations were seen as a pair of scorpions. Scorpion days marked as nights that both constellations could be seen. As one of the brightest and best-known stars, Betelgeuse has featured in many works of fiction."
"a Hindu understanding of the constellation as a running antelope or stag. In traditional Chinese astronomy, Betelgeuse was known as ("", the Fourth Star of the constellation of Three Stars"") as the Chinese constellation originally referred to the three stars in the girdle of Orion. This constellation was ultimately expanded to ten stars, but the earlier name stuck. In Japan, the Taira, or Heike, clan adopted Betelgeuse and its red color as its symbol, calling the star ""Heike-boshi"", (), while the Minamoto, or Genji, clan had chosen Rigel and its white color. The two powerful families fought a legendary war"
"Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Saiph. Consequently, Rigel are known as (, ). In Japan, the Minamoto or Genji clan chose Rigel and its white color as its symbol, calling the star ""Genji-boshi"" (), while the Taira or Heike clan adopted Betelgeuse and its red color. The two powerful families fought a legendary war in Japanese history, the stars seen as facing each other off and only kept apart by the Belt. Rigel was also known as ""Gin-waki"", (), ""the Silver (Star) beside (""Mitsu-boshi"")"". Rigel was known as ""Yerrerdet-kurrk"" to the Wotjobaluk koori of southeastern Australia, and held to be the mother-in-law"
"by Gustav Holst. This table provides a non-exhaustive list of angular measurements conducted since 1920. Also included is a column providing a current range of radii for each study based on Betelgeuse's most recent distance estimate (Harper ""et al."") of 197 ± 45 pc. Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, abbreviated Alpha Ori, α Ori), is on average the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. It is distinctly reddish, and is a semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. Betelgeuse"
"turn of phrase ""one's soul moves at the speed of an Arcturan megacamel"", presumably the reason for distilling Arcturan Mega-gin. Barnard's Star, a red dwarf star six light years from Earth, is an interstellar transit-stop used by the Vogon constructor fleet after demolishing Earth, where the crews' planet-leave is cancelled after Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz has an unhappy love-affair. It is also where Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent are thrown off the Vogon spaceship into interstellar space and rescued by the ""Heart of Gold"". The Red supergiant star Betelgeuse (pronounced ""Beetle-juice"") is the home system of Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox."
"the motifs of death and rebirth. 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. Betelgeuse has also appeared variously in the folklore of cultures including ancient Persia, India, China, and Japan. 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: ""There follow references to Betelgeuse as"
"Because ', the root of ', means ""middle"", ' roughly means ""the Central One"". The modern Arabic name for Orion is ' (""the Giant""), although the use of ' in the name of the star has continued. The 17th-century English translator Edmund Chilmead gave it the name ""Ied Algeuze"" (""Orion's Hand""), from Christmannus. Other Arabic names recorded include ' (""the Right Hand""), ' (""the Arm""), and ' (""the Shoulder""), all appended to ""of the giant"", as '. Other names for Betelgeuse included the Persian ' ""the Arm"", and Coptic ' ""an Armlet"". """" was its Sanskrit name, as part of"
"Most of the Western names of stars, such as Algol or Betelgeuse, are Arabic in origin. In 1603 the Augsburg lawyer-uranographer Johann Bayer introduced the current classificatory system for the brighter stars, in which stars are identified as belonging to their constellations by Greek letters, in (roughly) descending order of brightness; so that Regulus, brightest star in Leo, is called ""α Leonis"", the brightest star of the Lion. Unpredictable observations in the heavens, including novas and supernovas as well as other phenomena in the heavens such as comets, meteors, parhelions, and even rainbows, were all collected under the name of"
"by astronomers are: The difference between these concepts can be seen by comparing two stars. Betelgeuse (apparent magnitude 0.5, absolute magnitude −5.8) appears slightly dimmer in the sky than Alpha Centauri (apparent magnitude 0.0, absolute magnitude 4.4) even though it emits thousands of times more light, because Betelgeuse is much farther away. Under the modern logarithmic magnitude scale, two objects, one of which is used as a reference or baseline, whose intensities (brightnesses) measured from Earth in units of power per unit area (such as watts per square metre, W m) are and , will have magnitudes and related by"
"mythology and astrology before the scientific revolution, the red star, like the planet Mars that derives its name from a Roman war god, has been closely associated with the martial archetype of conquest for millennia, and by extension, the motif of death and rebirth. Other cultures have produced different myths. Stephen R. Wilk has proposed the constellation of Orion could have represented the Greek mythological figure Pelops, who had an artificial shoulder of ivory made for him, with Betelgeuse as the shoulder, its color reminiscent of the reddish yellow sheen of ivory. In the Americas, Betelgeuse signifies a severed limb"
"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). In another false-color image obtained by infrared interferometry 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. 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"
"of a man-figure (Orion)—the Taulipang of Brazil know the constellation as Zililkawai, a hero whose leg was cut off by his wife, with the variable light from Betelgeuse linked to the severing of the limb. Similarly, the Lakota people of North America see it as a chief whose arm has been severed. The Wardaman people of northern Australia knew the star as ""Ya-jungin"" ""Owl Eyes Flicking"", its variable light signifying its intermittent watching of ceremonies led by the Red Kangaroo Leader Rigel. In South African mythology, Betelgeuse was perceived as a lion casting a predatory gaze toward the three zebras"
"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"" Betelgeuse is a corruption of the Arabic (يد الجوزاء ""yad al-jauzā""' ) meaning ""the hand of the al-jauzā"", where al-jauzā is ""the Central One"", or Orion. 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"
"USS Betelgeuse (AKA-11) USS ""Betelgeuse"" (AK-28/AKA-11) was an , the first United States Navy ship named for Betelgeuse, a star in the constellation Orion. She served as a commissioned ship for 4 years and 9 months. ""Betelgeuse"" was laid down as a C-2D on 9 March 1939 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Hull 180 under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 31); launched as Mormaclark on 18 September 1939; sponsored by Miss Anne Perry Woodward; delivered to the Moore McCormack Lines, Inc., on 29 November 1939; acquired by the Navy on 29 May 1941; renamed"
"represented by Orion's Belt. A Sanskrit name for Betelgeuse is ārdrā ""the moist one"", eponymous of the ""Ardra"" lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. The Rigvedic God of storms Rudra presided over the star; this association was linked by 19th-century star enthusiast to Orion's stormy nature. The constellations in Macedonian folklore represented agricultural items and animals, reflecting their village way of life. To them, Betelgeuse was ""Orach"" ""the ploughman"", alongside the rest of Orion which depicted a plough with oxen. The rising of Betelgeuse at around 3 a.m. in late summer and autumn signified the time for village men to go"
"""astro"" (Portuguese and Galician) and ""estêre"" or ""stêrk"" (Kurdish), from the Proto-Indo-European ""star"". The Arabic ""salām"", the Hebrew ""shalom"", the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ""shlama"" and the Amharic ""selam"" (""peace"") are also cognates, derived from the Proto-Semitic *šalām- ""peace"". Cognates may often be less easily recognised than the above examples, and authorities sometimes differ in their interpretations of the evidence. The English word ""milk"" is clearly a cognate of German ""Milch"", Dutch ""melk"", Russian ""молоко (moloko)"" and Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian ""mleko"", also Montenegrin ""mlijeko"". On the other hand, French ""lait"", Catalan ""llet"", Italian ""latte"", Romanian ""lapte"", Spanish ""leche"" and ""leite"" (Portuguese"
"than ""Arthur"" (where ""u"" is a long vowel /ʉː/). In Welsh poetry the name is always spelled ""Arthur"" and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in ""-ur""—never words ending in ""-wr""—which confirms that the second element cannot be ""[g]wr"" ""man"". An alternative theory, which has gained only limited acceptance among professional scholars, derives the name Arthur from Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, near Ursa Major or the Great Bear. Classical Latin ""Arcturus"" would also have become ""Art(h)ur"" when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the ""guardian"
"for example Betelgeuse, which is predicted to explode sometime in the next million years. Orion (constellation) Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky. It was named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are Rigel (Beta Orionis) and Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), a blue-white and a red supergiant, respectively. The earliest depiction that has been linked to the constellation of Orion is a prehistoric (Aurignacian) mammoth ivory carving found in a cave in the Ach valley"
"commissioned by the Navy as the USS ""Betelgeuse"" (AK-260) and placed under operational control of the Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with Commander L.A. Parker, U.S. Navy, commanding. Cargo ships, like ""Betelgeuse"", were named after heavenly bodies; Betelgeuse being a large star in the constellation Orion. From her commissioning in 1952 through 1960, """"Goose"""" made resupply missions to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean with occasional trips to base in the West Indies, Bermuda, and the Azores. While performing her mission as a Navy Cargo ship, ""Betelgeuse"" transferred practically every kind of cargo to ships, barges, and piers using every known"
"not yet been directly observed as it is much fainter than the primary. The BC pair lies at an angular distance of 177 arc-seconds from Regulus A, making them visible in amateur telescopes. ""Rēgulus"" is Latin for 'prince' or 'little king'; its Greek equivalent (Latinised) is Basiliscus. It is also known as Qalb al-Asad, from the Arabic قلب الأسد, meaning 'the heart of the lion', a name already attested in the Greek Kardia Leontos whose Latin equivalent is Cor Leōnis. The Arabic phrase is sometimes approximated as Kabelaced. In Chinese it is known as 轩辕十四, the Fourteenth Star of Xuanyuan,"