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And now it's time for Who Smarted.
Psst! Welcome back aboard the USS Smarty Pants, Smarty Pants.
Are you ready for another deep space adventure?
Great! Number one. Please set a course for the constellation Orion.
Aye aye, Captain. Smarty Pants, do you know what a constellation is?
Is it A, a collection of planets named after objects, places, or famous astronomers?
B, a collection of stars named after animals, objects, or mythological figures?
Or C, a collection of gas named after fish, ancient gladiators, or taco -loving tiktakers?
If you said B, you're right.
The constellation Orion is a group of stars named after an ancient Greek mythological figure known as the Hunter.
And it's one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky, thanks to...
what? Did you say his belt?
That's right, Smarty Astrologers!
In the night sky, if you see a straight line of three bright stars, chances are you're looking at the constellation Orion.
Setting a course for Orion's belt, Captain.
No! No? But you said we're going to Orion.
We are! Are you being deliberately obtuse, sir?
Maybe! See, we're not heading to Orion's belt today.
Instead, we're going towards his shoulder.
Orion's shoulder? What's at the shoulder?
A star named Betelgeuse.
Betelgeuse? Betelgeuse!
Hahaha! It's showtime!
Hey, step right up, folks!
Welcome to the constellation Orion!
I gotta say, you look a little confused.
I promise, I won't hurt you.
Unless you can't handle about 6 ,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 3 ,300, if you dig metric.
If that's gonna be a problem, well, you just might have a problem then.
Haha! But we're cool, right?
I'm cool. Cooler than your son, you know!
Uh, who are you? Who am I?
I'm the guy whose name you just said three times!
Don't believe me? We're all the tapes, sound guy!
Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse?
Betelgeuse. So, uh, yeah, I think you kinda know who I am.
Your Betelgeuse? Bingo!
Captain, I believe they made a few popular movies about...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Shh!
Ixnayon the movie thing, huh?
I'm not him! He's not me.
But he was named after me, and while he might be a movie star, I'm a real life star!
Oh, that's right. You earthlings dig me!
I'm kinda irresistible, you know what I mean?
Haha! Oh, look, a wormhole!
Bup. Um, aren't you supposed to be...
not alive? Nope, not me.
That's the other guy.
Eh, at least I don't think I'm dead.
But how could you tell?
I mean, I'm like 500 to 700 light years from Earth, so if I died about 650 years ago, you might not know I died until right now!
Haha! Nope, not dead.
Still famous, and good looking, though!
Haha! Smarty Pants, why is Betelgeuse so famous?
And what makes this star such an unusual character?
And where did it get its crazy name?
Oh, and what happened a short time ago that got people thinking it might soon explode?
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but also get your popcorn, folks!
It's gonna be a heck of a show!
It sure is! Get ready for another galactic whiff of science and history on...
How smart, Ed! Who's smarted?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science or history?
Listen up! Everyone, we make smarting lots of fun!
Okay, Smarty Pants, we are officially in the Constellation Orion, with one of its stars, some would say the star, the one known in some circles as Alpha Orionis.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is that, Latin?
Don't be using no dead languages to describe me!
You know what I mean?
I'm not dead! I think!
Besides, how many of you have heard of Alpha Orionis?
Uh -huh! Didn't think so!
Smarty Pants, Alpha Orionis is the name a German astronomer gave to Betelgeuse back in 1603.
See if you can guess what it means.
Does it mean, A, Betelgeuse is the closest star to Earth, B, Betelgeuse is the brightest star in the Constellation Orion, or C, Betelgeuse is the oldest star in the Constellation?
The answer is B. Stop the music!
Hey, sorry pal. You got me all wrong!
Uh, I did? Yep! And let me tell you, this one always gets my goat!
Whoa, how'd he get in here?
So wait, are you saying you're not the brightest star in Orion?
That's what I'm saying!
Hmm, Smarty Pants, is Betelgeuse right?
It turns out, he is.
Duh! Told ya! You see, back in 1603 people thought Betelgeuse was the brightest, so that's why it was named Alpha Orionis.
But we now know Rigel is the brightest star in Orion.
Hmm, Rigel might be bright, but can he do this?
Um, probably not. And that's why this episode is about me!
You know, the true star of the show, hey!
But not the star of the movie.
No, number one, he has nothing to do with the movies.
Anyway, let's get back to your unusual name, Betelgeuse.
Do you know what it means?
Of course I do! It means I'm the star's star.
I rule the roost, so to speak.
Hmm, what do you think, Smarty Pants?
Does Betelgeuse mean, A, the insect drink, B, the great beast, or C, the giant's armpit?
The answer is actually C, the giant's armpit.
Whoa, whoa! You call me a big sweaty armpit?
Because I am! Oh yeah, makes the ladies go wild!
Uh, maybe not. A lot of astronomers think your name may also mean the giant's shoulder or the giant's hand, indicating your position in the giant, which of course refers to Orion.
Either way, the name Betelgeuse goes back hundreds of years and stems from a similar sounding Arabic term.
Uh, maybe not. A lot of astronomers think your name may also mean the giant's shoulder or the giant's hand, indicating your position in the giant, which of course refers to Orion.
Either way, the name Betelgeuse goes back hundreds of years and stems from a similar sounding Arabic term.
Smarty Pants, how long do historians believe humans have known about Betelgeuse?
Is it A, since the beginning of humanity?
B, since the Roman Empire?
Or C, since Europe's Dark Ages?
It turns out the name Betelgeuse might have come from the Dark Ages.
But people have likely known about Betelgeuse since A, the beginning of humanity.
Whoa! Yeah, you better believe it's...whoa!
Also, who said that?
The reason humans have known about Betelgeuse for so long is because Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and had been observed by ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks, though some of their writings refer to the color of the star as pale yellow.
I prefer creamy peach myself.
Smarty Pants, what color is Betelgeuse today?
Is it blue, white, or red?
The answer is red. Oh, look at me!
I'm blushing! The color has nothing to do with blushing.
It has to do with the star's lifecycle.
Smarty Pants' quick star quiz.
Are red giants like Betelgeuse near the beginning, middle, or end of their lifecycle?
The answer is the end.
Look at me! A lonely dying star!
And I've never even had a family or even just a moon to go to the mall with!
Ha ha ha! Psych! I'm fine!
I'm telling you. But I am kind of alone out here.
Never really had a place to call my own.
You know what I mean?
Sadly, that's true.
Scientists have called Betelgeuse a runaway star, kicked out from its birthplace millions of years ago.
I can't understand why.
Oh, nobody likes me!
Lowest boar said me!
Well, I can't speak for the things in space, but earthlings love you!
They do? Oh, yeah! Humans have always had a fascination with Betelgeuse.
Since you're so bright, up to 14 ,000 times brighter than our sun, and because you're very large and rather close, astronomers have been able to study Betelgeuse in greater detail than other stars.
And what do you think astronomers have discovered?
Betelgeuse is A, younger than our sun, B, lumpy, and not a smooth sphere like other stars, C has a brightness that changes often, or D will likely explode in a supernova.
The answer is, all of them!
Oh, well, yeah, I'm only like 10 million years old compared to your sun, which is 5 billion years old!
Okay, boomer! Ha ha!
Right, but this thing is, you're dying much faster!
See, the sun is about halfway through its life cycle, while you're nearing the end.
All right, all right!
You gotta keep reminding me!
Look, pal! I used to be a massive blue white star, but I, uh, burnt through all my hydrogen gas.
Hey, what can I say?
Hydrogen's the good stuff.
But it's all gone now, so now I'm just this big red lumpy cowboy in desperate need of some pals.
So how about this? You help me do a little switcheroo with your sun!
Give me some comfort during my final years, then the sun can go back after I go kaboom!
What do you think? What you gotta do?
Say my name three times?
Yeah, I don't think so.
Oh, come on! Just one favor for your old pal.
Ha ha! Old pal? We just met.
True, but I'm feeling a really strong connection between us.
You know, I want to be closer to you and everyone down there on Earth!
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
That's a terrible idea.
Ah, it's because of that thing that happened in 2019, right?
Ha ha ha. Hey, you know what?
Come on, everybody blows their top once in a while.
It's no big deal. Actually, it was a big deal, but even so, there are bigger reasons not to allow you into our solar system.
Oh, yeah? Name one!
Oh, I will right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors.
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Now back to who smarted.
Okay smarty pants, I'm here with my new friend.
Uh, best friend. Strong acquaintance.
Beetlejuice, a star in the constellation Orion, who wants to temporarily join our solar system and replace our sun until they die.
Is that really too much to ask?
What do you think smarty pants?
Would it be a good or bad idea to allow Beetlejuice to do this?
And what happened back in 2019 that got astronomers so worked up?
Come on, there's nothing to worry about.
I'm a superstar. Yeah, no kidding.
One that would kill us all.
Uh, did you say kill us all, Captain?
I did? Smarty pants, just how large is Beetlejuice?
Is it A, twice as big as our sun?
B, 100 times bigger than our sun?
Or C, over 700 times bigger than our sun?
If you said C, 700 times bigger than our sun, you're right.
Beetlejuice is one of the largest stars ever discovered.
If you put Beetlejuice in our solar system, its outer edge would reach Jupiter.
What's wrong with that?
Oh nothing. Only if you replaced our sun, you'd swallow up Mercury, Venus, Mars, the asteroid belt and Earth.
They'd all be destroyed.
Can we not do that, Captain?
You're darn tootin', we're not going to do that.
Oh well, I guess all good things must come to an end.
And speaking of, there's the matter of your end.
Some people thought that you might explode.
What do they know? They know what happened in 2019.
Oh yeah, that. Yeah, that.
Smarty pants, the star Beetlejuice does have a habit of dimming from time to time.
But in 2019, it went to the extreme, with its brightness fading by more than half.
Astronomers now call this the Great Dimming.
And some thought Beetlejuice was entering the phase before a massive explosion.
And when that happens, it's showtime.
Like you're closest to ever Supernova.
It'll be so bright, I'll look like the full moon.
And you'd see it in the daytime.
For months. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
While some people thought the 2019 dimming would lead to an explosion sooner than later, astronomers today think that's probably not going to happen anytime soon.
Maybe not for another hundred thousand years.
They now know that the Great Dimming of 2019 was caused by a massive eruption on the star.
Star eruptions are common.
Our sun ejects material all the time.
Oh, everybody more massive than our moon, which then cooled into a dust cloud that blocked your light, making you appear to dim.
So you weren't getting ready for a Supernova, as far as we know, but astronomers will keep watching Beetlejuice since it's an unusual star, full of surprises.
Speaking of, want to see a magic trick?
Here, let me just get a few things.
Okay, ready. Hey, where'd they go?
It's a lonely job, but someone's got to do it.
A big shout out to my smarty friend, Philip, in North Potomac, Maryland.
I hear you've listened to every episode of Who Smarted since we first started.
That is a lot of episodes.
I bet you're the smartest person you know.
Way to go, smarty pants.
This episode, Beetlejuice, was written by Dave Bodryjuice and voiced by Adam Undead Davis and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound designed by Josh Haunted Han.
Our associate producer is Max Spooky Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian.
It's showtime, Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Text Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Text Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
