Rigel in fiction

The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and the Solar System are a staple element in much science fiction.

The star Rigel

Artist's conception showing the relative sizes of the Sun (Sol) and blue supergiant Rigel, 71 times larger.

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 (see The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, Demon Princes by Jack Vance, and Star Trek below).

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 رجل الجبار, 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:

There follow references to Rigel as a location in space or the center of a planetary system, categorized by genre:

Literature

A William Blake original of "The Tyger," printed c. 1795.
Alphanor
Barleycorn
Chrysanthe
Diogenes
Elfland
Fiame
Goshen
Hardacres
Image
Jezebel
Krokinole
Lyonnesse
Madagascar
Nowhere
Olliphane
Pilgham
Quinine
Raratonga
Somewhere
Tantamount
Unicorn
Valisande
Walpurgis
Xion
Ys
Zacaranda
Notable locations in the Concourse include:
• The Esplanade, facing the Thaumaturge Ocean at Avente on Alphanor, and Kirth Gersen's base of operations.[18]
• The Patch Engineering and Construction Company of Patris on Krokinole, where Gersen builds a faux monster, the dnazd, to the specifications and for the use of the Demon Prince Kokor Hekkus on the fantasy planet Thamber.[19]
• The Feritse Precision Instruments Company, at Sansontiana on Olliphane, where Gersen takes up the trail of the descrambling strip to Lugo Teehalt's locator monitor—a decoder that will reveal the whereabouts of a secret paradise world.[20]
The Milky Way is co-extensive with Isaac Asimov's immense Galactic Empire, but it properly contains Jack Vance's far smaller Oikumene.
"The first full-fleged modern planetary romance is therefore probably Jack Vance's ... [he] supplied sf writers with a model to exploit." Vancian worlds of the Oikumene provide a rich environment together with off-world protagonists (In the case of the above locations: Kirth Gersen) whose need to travel across the planet provides a quest plot and a rationale for the lessons in anthropology and sociology so common to the form.[21]

Film and television

Star Trek

An artist's concept of a planetary system with multiple planets. In the case of the Rigel system, the pictured planets might be Rigel II. Rigel III, Rigel IV, Rigel V, Rigel VII, and Rigel X (among the worlds named in this section).

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]).

Other film and television

Comics

Games

A variety of resources, non-player characters, and player buildings (Rigel, Pardus Empire Contingent).

See also

Rigel 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.

For other fictional uses not directly connected with the star, see Rigel (disambiguation).

Notes and references

Notes

  1. Compare the alternate Arabic derivation riǧl al-ǧabbār of the name Rigel to the cognomen of the famous basketball player: Kareem (generous) Abdul (servant of) Jabbar (the great one), and also to the Bene Gesserit poison needle gom jabbar (the high-handed enemy) in Dune by Frank Herbert.[4]
  2. Rigel can be seen in the mornings from August until October and in the evenings from November until January. It would not have been visible on a September evening as Hemingway has it.
  3. Bester wrote this book in 1956. The modern-day values of Rigel's distance from the Earth and its luminosity are 860 ± 80 ly (not 540 ly) and 85,000 times that of the Sun (not 10,000).[10][11]
  4. Compare this with the plot of the 1979 anime film Galaxy Express 999 wherein the young hero Tetsuro receives an unlimited-use travel pass on the 999 galactic railroad from his mysterious female companion Maytel.

References

  1. 1 2 Przybilla, N; et al. (January 2006). "Quantitative spectroscopy of BA-type supergiants". Astronomy and Astrophysics 445 (3): 1099–1126. arXiv:astro-ph/0509669. Bibcode:2006A&A...445.1099P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053832.
  2. Burnham, Robert, Jr (1978). Burnham's Celestial Handbook 3. New York: Dover Books. p. 1300. ISBN 0-486-23673-0.
  3. Schneider, Jean. "Interactive Extra-solar Planets Catalog". The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  4. Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. New York: Ace Books. pp. 523–541 (glossary).
  5. Melville, Herman (2010). Mardi: and A Voyage Thither 2. New York: Qontro Classic Books. p. 197. ASIN B003VTZ6OC.
  6. "Clarel/Part 4/Canto 16". Wikisource. pp. [etext: search on quotation]. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
  7. Wallace, Lew (2011). Ben-Hur. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace. p. 198. ISBN 1-466-34816-X.
  8. Hemingway, Ernest (2007). The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Heritage Publishers. p. 59. ISBN 8-170-26229-1.
  9. Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Smith, E E". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St Martin’s Griffin. pp. 1123–1124. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
  10. van Leeuwen, F (November 2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357.
  11. Kaler, James B. "Rigel". JAMES B. (JIM) KALER/Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  12. Bester, Alfred (1967). Tiger! Tiger!. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. pp. 246–247.
  13. Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Bester, Alfred". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St Martin’s Griffin. pp. 113–114. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
  14. Russell, Eric Frank (2007). Next of Kin. London: Pollinger in Print. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-905665-46-4.
  15. Reynolds, Mack (2011). Adaptation. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace. p. 6. ISBN 1-466-20043-X.
  16. Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Reynolds, Mack". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St Martin’s Griffin. p. 1006. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
  17. Vance, Jack (2005). The Star King 22. Multiple editors. Oakland, CA: The Vance Integral Edition. p. 58. ISBN 0-9712375-1-4.
  18. Vance, Jack (2005). The Demon Princes. 22-26. Multiple editors. Oakland, CA: The Vance Integral Edition. pp. passim. ISBN 0-9712375-1-4.
  19. Vance, Jack (2005). The Killing Machine 23. Multiple editors. Oakland, CA: The Vance Integral Edition. p. 79. ISBN 0-9712375-1-4.
  20. Vance, Jack (2005). Star King 22. Multiple editors. Oakland, CA: The Vance Integral Edition. p. 70. ISBN 0-9712375-1-4.
  21. Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Planetary Romance". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St Martin’s Griffin. p. 935. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
  22. Adams, Douglas (2002). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Del Rey Books. p. 218. ISBN 0-345-45374-3.
  23. "Earth". Nine Planets. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  24. Task Group on Astronomical Designations. "Naming Astronomical Objects/Naming Objects outside the Solar System". International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  25. Johnson, Shane (1989). Worlds of the Federation. New York: Pocket Books. p. 36. ISBN 0-671-70813-9.
  26. Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia, eds. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 0060952520. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.. pp. 36-37.
  27. Thor #218 (1973)
  28. Kasavin, Greg. "The Greatest Games of All Time". GameSpot. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
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