3012: The Future of Orion

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The Future of Orion

Title text: Dinosaur Cosmics

Explanation

Stars in the night sky sometimes change, occasionally varying in brightness, very rarely exploding, and imperceptibly moving. For example, Betelgeuse, a star in the constellation Orion, is expected to explode as a supernova between tens of and a thousand years, and then disappear from the night sky. And all stars move relative to us and each other, which results in apparent movement in the sky called proper motion, a function of a star's relative movement in three dimensions and its distance from us.

This comic shows changes in Orion from Betelgeuse disappearing and three of its fastest moving stars, and recommends revising the constellation (or creating a new asterism) from one which depicts a hunter to another matching a different hunter, the Tyrannosaurus from Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics.

Depending upon the artistic imagination of the observer, western (and northern-hemisphere) traditions may evoke the right 'string' of stars as either Orion's bow-arm holding a bow (perhaps having loosed an arrow towards Taurus, the Bull, with his off-arm raised aloft and behind having just released the bowstring) or else holding some creature he has caught/is fighting (with his off-arm, the other arm holding a raised club/sword that will strike the beast), with other astronomical traditions maybe 'recognising' various similar or different imageries according to their own cultural ideas (and perspective upon the constellation, e.g. from a southern orientation). In the form adjusted to match the "dinosaur comics" image, the rightmost group becomes the creature's tail and the upper-left maps to the open-jawed head and neck. The torso and legs (the latter sometimes depicted as leading only down to the kneeling Orion's knees, depending upon the imagined pose, hence the enclosed trapezoid of either his lower knee-length robe or from one lower leg crossing the ground, excusing the apparently anomolous leg-to-torso ratio that doesn't fit a hunting human quite as much as the depicted dinosaur) are essentially the same in both versions, but mirrored in sidelong profile, with the minor difference of both shoulders' positions within the asterism, and the traditionally short and stubby T-Rex arms not being granted 'star arms' in their own right.

It should be noted that the main stars (but not the nebula) of Orion's Sword are drawn, but do not fit the dinosaur image in any way. In the original Orion constellation, they are rarely connected with the 'lines' of the constellation, but are matched against a sword (or its scabbard) when rendered as a more pictorial Orion. In the full dinosaur they match nothing from the image, but may be considered to be dripped saliva, discarded blood/torn flesh from whatever it might currently be eating or, perhaps (from its subpelvic position), other expelled material...

The proper motion of χ¹ Orionis shown near the top at the end of Orion's arm (and the back of the dinosaur's head) is 0.20 arcseconds per year, so it will traverse the depicted angular distance of 0.84 degrees in about 15,000 years. π¹ Orionis at the top of Orion's bow (and the end of the dinosaur's tail) has a proper motion of 0.14 arcseconds per year, so it will traverse its distance of 0.87° in about 23,000 years. However, with a proper motion of 0.46 as/yr, π³ Orionis, in the middle of the bow, will take only about 9,600 years to traverse its longer depicted distance of 1.24°. (The angular distances traversed by the stars were measured relative to the distance between Orion's two outermost belt stars, Alnitak and Mintaka, the dinosaur's hips.) Thus, the new constellation won't form until its current name has lasted more than three times as long as it already has. There are various other stars that notably move around within or near the vicinity of Orion, given suffiently long viewing time, perhaps allowing Randall some small leeway in what way to re-represent the original hunter's pose, though the 'resemblance' of the reworked constellation to its dinosaur image remains a remarkable coincidence.

Hipparchus and Ptolemy compare globes in Raphael's famous fresco The School of Athens. Ptolemy is shown with a crown because of his erroneous association with the royal house of Ptolemaic Egypt.

There are no official constellations depicting dinosaurs. However, Draco represents a mythological reptilian dragon, and the lizard Lacerta was described in 1687. The first fossil to be later identified as a dinosaur was found in 1676, but the term "dinosaur" was not introduced until 1842. The earliest constellations in the northern hemisphere were recognized around 3000 BC. By the 2nd century AD, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy listed 48 constellations visible from the northern hemisphere in his Almagest, following the star catalogs and globes made by Hipparchus which have since been lost to history. The remaining modern southern constellations were mostly finalized by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Dozens of former constellations have been recognized, sometimes for hundreds of years, before being disregarded, replaced by others, or because they were only recognized by cultures apart from dominant Western traditions. (Polynesian navigators settled a vast expanse of the south Pacific Ocean from 26,000 to 950 years ago apparently without naming constellations, but instead recording the positions of stars on sidereal compass dials.) The International Astronomical Union established the current official list of 88 constellations in 1922.

The title text is another joke regarding Dinosaur Comics, replacing "comics" with "cosmics" because we're talking about a dinosaur in the sky.

Orion is also mentioned in 1020: Orion Nebula. T-Rex is also featured in 1452: Jurassic World. In 2006, Randall emulated the style of Dinosaur Comics with 145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics and he lists the comic as one of those comics he enjoys. Randall and Ryan North are known to be friends. And on the day Randall posted this comic, Ryan wrote the following in his "What are the haps my friends" section beneath his own comic: November 15th, 2024: HEY DID YOU SEE XKCD TODAY??

Transcript

[Star map of the Orion constellation at present, everything black on white background. The majority of the twenty-three points are connected with the traditional constellation lines. As is usual, the three stars of "Orion's Sword" are left unconnected, and neither is Sigma Orionis, in its position very close to Alnitak on Orion's Belt. In a frame above the stars there is a label:]

Orion Today:

[In the next panel the same stars are drawn (except Sigma Orionis, which features in no further panels) but without the constellation lines. Three of the dots that mark the stars are drawn in grey, and from them a short red line is going to an additional red dot that marks a new star position. A fourth star has a red cross over it. There are two labels in red. From the upper label goes two long red arrows in opposite directions towards the red and grey stars and lines (two of those are close together beneath the label, one is above). A small red arrow goes from the other label to the crossed out star. The rest of the stars remain unchanged. In a frame above the stars there is a label:]

Predicted Changes:

Upper label: Star movement

Lower label: Star Death (Betelgeuse)

[Star map of the future Orion constellation, all map features black on white, with Betelgeuse now missing and the three moved stars where their red 'new' positions were in the prior panel. A set of mostly different constellation lines are drawn joining the majority of the twenty-one points (excepting the traditional Sword stars). A red label is written with a red arrow pointing to a constellation line at the top right. In a frame above the stars there is a label:]

Orion in the future:

Label: Suggested lines

[In the last panel the same stars with constellation lines are drawn. It overlays an image of Dinosaur Comics T-rex, the full color habitual 'final pane' pose, but flipped left/right to match and generally encompasses the new constellation lines in a way typical of more classical artistic constellation depictions. In particular, bow and right arm of Orion (in some versions, left arm holding captured prey) now matches the dinosaur tail, whilst the raised left arm (sometimes considered the right arm, holding a club aloft) now matches the neck and dropped jaw of its head. The stars of "Orion's Sword" remain as three dots between the legs constellation/dinosaur legs, without any connection to either, or indeed any 'sword'-equivalent.]

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Discussion

this is my second first comment. -P?sych??otic?pot??at???o (talk) 17:47, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

This is my first second comment. 162.158.63.8 17:56, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

I plead the third. 172.69.136.188 19:57, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

you mean the fifth????? Caliban (talk) 20:18, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Probably not. I believe it's a perfectly legitimate request. If not because of the muddy boots, then because of the MRE wrappers they leave around (or don't put in the right recycling bin). 172.68.205.92 21:51, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

This is my French: comment?172.69.194.226 13:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

okay we need to destroy the stars, any suggestions? Caliban (talk) 19:02, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Don't worry, the insects should take care of it. (If the rocks don't do it first) Trogdor147 (talk) 20:23, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Maybe add a reference to #1020? 172.71.147.100 19:43, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

now instead of a hunter with a dong, its a dinosaur with diarrhea! guess who (if you want to | what i have done) 19:47, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

"There are no dinosaur constellations, because dinosaur fossils had not yet been discovered when constellations were first being named in around 3000 BCE." Faulty logic, compare: "There are no microscope constellations, because microscopes had not yet been discovered when constellations were first being named in around 3000 BCE." 162.158.154.221 20:03, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

link. Besides, weren't legends about dragons blamed on people finding dinosaur bones? -- Hkmaly (talk) 21:48, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Besides, Microscopium isn't even 300 years old, much less 5000 108.162.245.113

Has anyone figured out how far in the future Randall has projected the new star positions? 172.69.135.5 21:04, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

There ARE dinosaur constellations, nine of them in factp 108.162.245.113

Meh, dinosaurs. Where are the zombie constellations? 172.69.109.77 08:54, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

My favorite part is that the dinosaur sill has a dong Apollo11 (talk) 20:04, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

If dinosaurs had penises, they would have usually been retracted within their cloaca (Alnilam) so North's T. rex is either excited to get with a female, or Orion's sword could instead be excrement being expelled. 172.70.207.184 08:14, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

It's funny because one of the first attempts to depict dinosaurs in their natural environment - the painting "Duria Antiquior" - had pooping dinosaurs. It was apparently both a reference to coprolites as well as simple scatological humour. --172.71.164.73 08:35, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Dinosaur Comics nearly always uses the same art in every strip, with the T-Rex in the same six poses. But the pose used in this XKCD strip isn't one of them. --172.71.254.101 18:05, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Yes-and-no. It seems to be a pretty much perfect (or even exact, I haven't dug down into it at the pixel level to check it's not just a very good Randall-redrawn version) mirror image of the 'panel 6' pose. 172.70.58.5 19:33, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

When I was a kindergartner my parents had a mini wet bar inside a 1.5+ foot diameter star globe. I remember thinking how much higher quality my own drawings for class were than the really terrible stick figures formed by the lines of the constellations, and how poorly they matched their intended subjects. I still think about that when I see stick figure comics like XKCD. But as an adult I realize that their purpose wasn't art, it was mnemonic help for navigators, just like everyone in the northern hemisphere growing up away from city lights learns the big dipper instead of the Ursa bears, because it's easier to remember for finding the north star.

So, what I'm getting at is, maybe it would be a good idea to replace a bad constellation with the winner of a competition (including with the status quo) for something better every century or so. I'm not sure we really need to take proper motion into account for that though. 108.162.245.132 02:56, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

that competition gives the risk of a constellation named 'Starry McStarface.' 172.71.195.49 (talk) 00:22, 19 November 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I would vote for that over Fornax the furnace or Caelum the chisel. 172.68.23.92 10:21, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Should there be a Dinosaur Comics category? This one, 145, 1452, 1350, 2712, 2765, a few featuring Ryan North... 108.162.241.175 17:48, 20 November 2024 (UTC) The future of Orion: Released before the game totally finished, with lots of bugs, only one DLC. 799571388 (talk) 07:59, 21 November 2024 (UTC)