From the Wikipedia entry on Betelgeuse: "Some theorists[who?] have speculated that this behavior is expected for a star at the beginning of the gravitational collapse at the end of its life.[citation needed] The mass of Betelgeuse puts it in range to become a neutron star or possibly a black hole."

So this might be what is happening. .

Quick, someone see if it's being collapsed upon by a Hrung!

http://hhgproject.org/entries/collapsinghrungdisaster.html http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Great_Collapsing_Hrun...

This is old news. Why should anyone care about a star that was shrinking more than 500 years ago?

Um, because it's home to Ford Prefect?

Like you even have to ask.