Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Astronomical objects/Archive1

"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one can not live in a cradle forever" ~ Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The purpose of this wiki-project is to create, improve and standardize articles for astronomical objects, which includes notable objects that exist outside of the Earth. The templates to list basic information, along with guideline reccomendations, are given below.

Wikipedia Project: Astronomical objects (edit or discuss this box)

Galaxies	[ Related changes ]
IC objects	[ Related changes ]
Messier objects	[ Related changes ]
NGC objects	[ Related changes ]

To expand

Messier 73, Jewel Box, (Kappa Crucis Cluster),

Astronomy Collaboration of the Week

Mars

Overall footer

• Template:Astronomy-footer - General subfields within astronomy

Useful Templates

When filling in scientific data, you may find the following templates useful:

• {{±|pos|neg}} which produces: ^+pos
  _−neg used thus: 500 ⁺³⁵
  ₋₂₂ km. (Avoid using it in a link, though: it looks bad)
• {{e|n}} which produces: ×10ⁿ used thus: 5.97{{e|24}} kg, which gives 5.97×10²⁴ kg.

Articles listed for deletion

• Whatmough's planet types (AfD discussion)
• Sulfur jovian (AfD discussion)

Planets and moons

Body name

[image of object]
Discovery
Discovered by	___name___
Discovered on	___date___
Orbital characteristics (Epoch J2000)
Semi-major axis	km (AU)
Ortbital circumference	Tm (AU)
Eccentricity	number
Perihelion	km (AU)
Aphelion	km (AU)
Orbital period	d (other units, such as Julian years)
Synodic period	d (a) (w/respect to Earth)
Avg. orbital speed	km/s
Max. orbital speed	km/s
Min. orbital speed	km/s
Inclination (to Ecliptic)	° (° to Sun's equator)
Longitude of the ascending node	decimal ° (° ' ")
Argument of the perihelion	decimal ° (° ' ")
Satellites	number
Satellite of	planet (only for Moons)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	km (axis × axis × axis for ellipsoids)
Equatorial diameter	km (Earth units)
Polar diameter	km (Earth units)
Oblateness	number
Surface area	km2 (Earth units)
Volume	km3 (Earth units)
Mass	kg (Earth units)
Mean density	g/cm3
Surface gravity	m/s2 (gees)
Escape velocity	km/s
Rotation period	d (h)
Rotation velocity	km/h (m/s) (at the equator)
Obliquity	°
Right ascension of North pole	° (h min s)
Declination	°
Albedo	number
Surface temperature	min mean max nnn K nnn K nnn K
Atmospheric characteristics
Pressure	kPa
most common	%
next-most-common	%
etcetera	%

This page is where work is being done to come up with a generic table template to be used for organizing a list of facts about various astronomical bodies such as planets, natural satellites, and maybe also smaller bodies such as asteroids and comets (though I suspect that both asteroids and comets will be better served by having their own template design).

Most of these entries should be measured in SI units. Some of them, however, should have more "human-accessible" units, in addition to SI units. I've indicated some cases with a second unit name in brackets. In the case of times (orbital periods, rotation), I think it best to give all periods in days for comparison purposes, and provide a translation (in parentheses) into years, days, hours, etc.; whatever is most appropriate for the duration being described.

Oh, and compared to table templates for things like the elements, I think that this template should be considered somewhat more flexible. Moons with no atmosphere whatsoever could skip the atmospheric composition section entirely, for example (though atmospheric density would still be listed). Moons also wouldn't have their orbital radii listed in AU, since AUs are such large units. For planets, use "perihelion" and "aphelion" instead of "periapsis" and "apoapsis."

In the case of "number of moons" and "is a moon of", only one of these rows will be used by any given object. There aren't any moons with moons (yet), though perhaps "co-orbital with" might be a useful row to add in a few cases.

A set of colours for use in the 2-column headers of this table:

rocky terrestrial body	Transition metal color from the periodic table; rocky planets have lots of metals compared to the icy ones. Also, red is a "warmer" color than green, which fits the distribution of rocky and icy planets in the solar system.
icy terrestrial body	green contrasts nicely with the pink of rocky planets. Also, on the periodic table, it's the color of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and other common components of outer-solar-system ice.
gas giant body	blue skies, and noble gases on the periodic table (including helium, which is only found in large quantities on gas giants. It escapes from smaller planets). Also, two out of four gas giants prefer the cool soothing color of blue.

On orbital characteristics: The orbital circumference should be computed from the semi-major axis using Ramanujan's approximation for ellipses. The ratio of that circumference to the period then gives the average orbital speed. The minimum and maximum speeds follow from Kepler's laws: $v_{max}=2\pi a^{2}{\frac {\sqrt {1-e^{2}}}{Ta(1-e)}}$ and $v_{min}=2\pi a^{2}{\frac {\sqrt {1-e^{2}}}{Ta(1+e)}}$. Note that, by convention, all orbital parameters are given in the primocentric reference system (heliocentric for the planets).

On physical characteristics: The surface area and volume of non-spherical objects (e.g. moonlets, asteroids) must use the proper ellipsoid formulae, because even slight departures from sphericity will make a large difference, particularly for the area.

On the subject of obliquity: Obliquity is the angle between the object's axis of rotation and the normal to the plane of its orbit. Do not confuse this with the Tilt listed in the JPL pages, which is a measure of the angle between the local Laplace plane and the primary's equatorial plane. In fact, most inner moons have synchronous rotations, so their obliquities will be, by definition, zero. Outer moons simply have not been seen from close up enough to determine their true obliquities (although Phoebe, recently seen by the Cassini probe, is an exception; see Talk:Phoebe (moon) for the derivation of its obliquity).

Conversion log

Still to be done:

• For Neptune:
  • Nereid

Done:

Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Phobos Deimos Jupiter Metis Adrastea Amalthea Thebe Io Europa Ganymede Callisto Leda (still stubby) Himalia (still stubby) Lysithea (still stubby) Elara (still stubby) Ananke (still stubby) Carme (still stubby) Pasiphae (still stubby) Sinope (still stubby)

Saturn Phoebe Pan Prometheus Pandora Epimetheus Janus Mimas Enceladus Tethys Titan Dione Rhea Hyperion Iapetus Atlas Telesto Calypso Helene

Uranus Cordelia (work in progress) Ophelia (work in progress) Bianca (work in progress) Cressida (work in progress) Desdemona (work in progress) Juliet (work in progress) Rosalind (work in progress) Belinda (work in progress) Puck (work in progress) Miranda (work in progress) Oberon (work in progress) Ariel (in progress) Neptune Triton Proteus (in progress) Pluto Charon

Planet Template

Earth

Template: {{Planet}}

The above fields need incorporating into this template.

Footers

• Template:Footer SolarSystem - Planets in our Solar system
  • Template:Mars Footer - Mars' natural satellites
  • Template:Jupiter Footer - Jupiter's natural satellites (condensed)
  • Template:Jupiter Full Footer - Jupiter's natural satellites (exhaustive)
  • Template:Saturn Footer - Saturn's natural satellites (condensed)
  • Template:Saturn Full Footer - Saturn's natural satellites (exhaustive)
  • Template:Uranus Footer - Uranus's natural satellites
  • Template:Neptune Footer - Neptune's natural satellites
  • Template:Pluto Footer - Pluto and its natural satellites

Useful sources

• JPL's SSD, Natural Satellite Physical Parameters
• JPL's SSD, Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters
• Solarviews
• The Nine Planets

Minor planets (asteroids, comets, Kuiperoids, etc)

{{minor planet}}

{{Minor Planet}}

{{minor planet| | name = 14 Irene | e = 0.168 | i = 9.106 | q = 2.150 AU | omega = 96.473 | a = 2.585 | asc_node=86.493 | Q = 3.020 | M = 326.489 | P= 4.16 | n = ? | TP =? }}

{{ Minor Planet | | name=14 Irene | discoverer=[[John Russell Hind]] | discovery_date=[[May 19]], [[1851]] | designations=A906 QC;<br/>A913 EA;<br/>1952 TM | category=[[Main belt]] | epoch=[[July 14]], [[2004]] ([[Julian day|JD]] 2453200.5) | semimajor=386.730 [[1 E9 m|Gm]] (2.585 [[Astronomical unit|AU]]) | perihelion=321.602 Gm (2.150 AU) | aphelion=451.858 Gm (3.020 AU) | eccentricity=0.168 | period=1518.176 [[day|d]] (4.16 [[Julian year (astronomy)|a]]) | inclination=9.106° | arg_peri=96.473° | asc_node=86.493° | mean_anomaly=326.489° | speed=18.52 km/s | dimensions=181.8 km <sup>[http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT]</sup> | mass=6.3×10<sup>18</sup> kg | density=2 ? g/cm³ | gravity=0.051 m/s² | escape_velocity=0.096 km/s | rotation=0.6275 d <sup>[http://www.psi.edu/pds/archive/lc.html]</sup> | spectral_class=[[S-type asteroid]] <sup>[http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT] | abs_mag=6.30 | albedo=0.160 <sup>[http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT]</sup> | temperature=~234 [[kelvin|K]] }}

The example on the far right is the recommended table format for minor planets —note the recommended unit links. It is generated by the {{Minor Planet}} template. The template has an optional astron argument whose default value is helion; this allows its use to describe asteroid moons, as in the S/2000 (1998 WW₃₁) 1 example.

Urhixidur wrote a nifty Windows tool that can greatly facilitate preparation of these. The most recent version can be downloaded from http://www.bigfoot.com/~D.U.Thibault (at the bottom of the page, under the heading "Delphi 7 and Wikipedia").

A more compact form of this with just the orbital elements is on the near right {{Minor planet}} (note the lower case 'p'). The two are incompatible at the moment, something which Nicholas intends to fix one day.

A few short-hand templates are useful when dealing with asteroids with provisional designations. They are Template:mp, Template:mpl, and Template:mpl-. Mpl ("minor planet link") is used to write a link, like so {{mpl|(15874) 1996 TL|66}} = (15874) 1996 TL66, whilst mp ("minor planet") saves you from typing  if you'd rather not: {{mp|(15874) 1996 TL|66}} = (15874) 1996 TL₆₆. Mpl- is used with numbered asteroids that have kept (so far) their provisional designations: {{mpl-|15760|1992 QB|1}} = 1992 QB₁ instead of (15760) 1992 QB1.

Footers

• Template:MinorPlanets Footer - Minor planets
  • Template:MinorPlanets Navigator - Minor planet sequential navigator
  • Template:PeriodicComets Navigator - Periodic comet sequential navigator
  • Template:Footer TransNeptunian - Large Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)
    • Template:TNO - Small list of TNO-related topics

Particularly useful are {{MinorPlanets Navigator}} and {{MinorPlanets Footer}}. Scroll down beyond the table to the right to see examples of these.

Comets

9P/Tempel; Tempel 1

Comet (List of comets)
File:Tempel 1 Deep Impact 5min.jpg Nucleus imaged by the Deep Impact impactor
Discovery
Discoverer	Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel
Discovery date	April 3, 1867
Alternate designations	9P/1867 G1; 1867 II; 9P/1873 G1; 1873 I; 1873a 1879 III; 1879b 9P/1967 L1; 1966 VII 9P/1972 A1; 1972 V; 1972a 1978 II; 1977i 1983 XI; 1982j 1989 I; 1987e1 1994 XIX; 1993c
Orbital elements A
Epoch March 6, 2006
Eccentricity (e)	0.5175
Semi-major axis (a)	3.122 AU
Perihelion (q)	1.506 AU
Aphelion (Q)	4.737 AU
Orbital period (P)	5.515 a
Inclination (i)	10.5301°
Last perihelion date	July 5, 2005
Next est. perihelion date	2011

As discussed above, comets might be served better by a different template. Here is a suggestion for {{Comet}} we can toy with until we are happy with it. Awolf002 00:23, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Stars

Starbox tree

{{subst:Starbox begin | name = Alpha Centauri }}

|-

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |

The position of Alpha Centauri.

|- ! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Observation data
Epoch J2000 |- | Constellation | Centaurus |- | Right ascension | 14h 39m 36.2s |- | Declination | -60° 50′ 8.2″ |- | Apparent magnitude (V) | 0.01

|- ! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Spectral Characteristics |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Spectral type | G2 V |- style="vertical-align: top;" | U-B color index | 0.24 |- style="vertical-align: top;" | B-V color index | 0.65 |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Variable type | N/A

|-

! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Astrometry Radial velocity (R_v)21.6 km/sProper motion (μ) RA: -3678.19 mas/yr
Dec.: +481.84 mas/yr Parallax (π)747.23 ± 1.17 masDistance4.38 ly (1.33 pc)Absolute magnitude (M_V)4.40

|- ! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Physical Characteristics |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Mass | 1.10/0.91 M_☉ |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Radius | 1.23/0.87 R_☉ |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Luminosity | 1.57/0.51 L_☉ |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Temperature | 5,800/5,300 K |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Metallicity | 130-230% Sun |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Rotation | ? |- |style="vertical-align: baseline;" | Age | 5-6 × 10⁹ years

|- ! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Visual binary orbit |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Companion | Alpha Centauri B |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Period (P) | 79.92 years |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Semimajor axis (a) | 17.515" |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Eccentricity (e) | 0.516 |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Inclination (i) | 79.24° |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Node (Ω) | 204.87° (ascending)° |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Periastron epoch (T) | 1955.56

|- ! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Other designations |-

| colspan="2" |

α¹ Cen, CP -60° 5483 A, Gliese 559A, FK5 538, HD 128620, HIP 71683, HR 5459, LHS 50, SAO 252838, YPC 3309.00

|} This table is composed of the following sub-templates:

• {{Starbox begin}}
• {{Starbox image}}
• {{Starbox observe}}
• {{Starbox character}}
• {{Starbox astrometry}}
• {{Starbox visbin}}
• {{Starbox detail}}
• {{Starbox catalog}}
• {{Starbox end}}

References: [1] [2] [3]

Short star template

{{{name}}}

Observation data Epoch 2000      Equinox 2000
Constellation	Centaurus
Right ascension	14h 39m 36.5s
Declination	-62° 50' 2.72"
Apparent magnitude (V)	0.01
Distance	4.38 ly (1.33 pc)
Spectral type	G2 V
Other designations
α1 Cen, HD 128620, CP-60°5483 A, HR 5459, HIP 71683

• {{starbox short}}

This template is for stubby star articles, and should be replaced with the full template when the article is expanded.

Footers

• Template:ConstellationsListedByPtolemy - Ptolemy's constellations
• Template:ConstellationList - Modern constellations
  • Template:ConstellationsRoyerAltered - Constellations altered by Augustin Royer in 1679

Extrasolar planets

TrES-1

TrES-1
Orbital elements
Semi-major axis	(a)	0.0393 (± 0.0007) AU
Eccentricity	(e)	0.135 (± 0.096)
Orbital period	(P)	3.030065 (± 0.000008) d
Inclination	(i)	88.2 (± 1)°
Longitude of periastron	(ω)	?°
Time of periastron	(τ)	2,453,186.8060 (± 0.002) JD
Physical characteristics
Mass		0.61 (± 0.06) MJ
Radius		1.08 RJ
Density		? kg/m³
Temperature		1,060 (± 50) K
Discovery
Discovery date		2004
Detection method(s)
Discoverer(s)		Alonso et al.

• {{Extrasolar Planet}}

Supernovae

SN 1987A

1987A supernova remnant near the center
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0)
Supernova type	IIp (unusual)
Remnant type	unknown
Host Galaxy	Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
Constellation	Dorado
Right ascension	05h 35m 49.942s (1950)
Declination	−69° 17′ 57.60″ (1950)
Galactic coordinates	unknown
Discovery Date	24 February 1987 (23:00 UTC) [4]
Peak magnitude (V)	+3
Physical characteristics
Progenitor	Sanduleak −69° 202 a
Progenitor type	B3 supergiant
Colour (B-V)	+0.085
Notable features	The closest recorded sn. since invention of telescope

Template: {{Supernova }}

This is a table template that should be used for supernovae. It automatically assigns the article to Category:Supernovae.

Star Clusters

NGC 6656

Open cluster	List of open clusters
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0)
Class	VII
Constellation
Right ascension	18h 36m 18s
Declination	−23° 53′ 58″
Distance	10.4 kly ()
Apparent magnitude (V)	5.1
Apparent dimensions (V)	32.0″
Physical characteristics
Mass	(105 to 106 M☉)
Radius
VHB	14.2
Estimated age
Notable features
Other designations	Messier 22

Template: {{Cluster}}

Sample table for M22. Please modify and improve as needed.

The template is for open and globular clusters.

Galaxies

{{subst:Galaxy | name = Spiral Galaxy M109 | image = File:Messierobject109.jpg CCD image of M109 | epoch = J2000.0 | type = SB(s)bc | ra = 11^h 57.6^m 36.0^s | dec = +53° 23' 28" | z = +0.003496 | dist_ly = 41 million ly | appmag_v = +9.8 | size_v = 7.6' × 4.9' | constellation name = Ursa Major | radius_ly = 65,000 ly | absmag_v = 13.4 | notes = Possible Milky Way-twin,
Bar at the center | names = NGC 3992, UGC 6937 }}

Template: {{Galaxy}}

This example table should be edited and used for galaxies.

Notes: Please see List of galaxies to find galaxies that do not yet have infoboxes/factsheets.
Please categorise your galaxy in a subcategory of Category:Galaxies

Galaxy cluster

Stephan's Quintet

Galaxy groups and clusters	List of galaxy groups and clusters
File:Stephan'sQuintet.jpg Stephan's Quintet, with NGC 7319 (bottom right), NGC 7320 (top right),NGC 7318A and 7318B (center), and NGC 7317 (top left)
Observation data (Epoch )
Constellation(s):	Pegasus
Right ascension
Declination
Number of galaxies:	5
Brightest member:
Other designations

Template: {{Galaxy cluster}}

This example table should be edited and used for galaxy groups, clusters, clouds, and superclusters.

Types

• Compact galaxy...: in a small setting (possibly colliding)
• Loose galaxy...: separated (sometimes in several constellations)

Nebulae

Planetary Nebulae

Dumbell Nebula

Planetary nebula	Lists of nebulae
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0)
Right ascension	19h 59.6m
Declination	+22° 43′
Distance	1,250 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	+7.4
Apparent dimensions (V)	8.0 × 5.7 arcmins
Constellation	Vulpecula
Physical characteristics
Radius	-
Absolute magnitude (V)	-
Notable features	-
Other designations	NGC 6853, M27

Template: {{Planetary nebula}}

This example should be copied and used for all planetary nebulae. See List of planetary nebulae for articles on planetary nebulae. Please place new planetary nebulae on this list, and categorize in Category:Planetary nebulae, the category of its constellation, and the category of its catalog (ex:Category:Messier objects).

Diffuse Nebulae

Orion Nebula

Diffuse nebula	Lists of nebulae
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0)
Type	-
Right ascension	05h 32m 49s
Declination	-05° 25′
Distance	1,600 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	+4.0
Apparent dimensions (V)	85 × 60 arcmins
Constellation	Orion
Physical characteristics
Radius	-
Absolute magnitude (V)	-
Notable features	-
Other designations	NGC 1976, M42
	edit

Template: {{Diffuse nebula}}

This example should be copied and used for all diffuse nebulae. See List of diffuse nebulae for articles on ddiffuse nebulae. Please place new diffuse nebulae on this list, and categorize in Category:Diffuse nebulae, the category of its constellation, and the category of its catalog (ex:Category:Messier objects).

Dark Nebulae

Horsehead Nebula

Dark nebula	Lists of nebulae
Observation data (Epoch J2000.0)
Type	Dark
Right ascension	05h 40m 59.0s
Declination	-02° 27′ 30.0"
Distance	1,500 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	-
Apparent dimensions (V)	8 × 6 arcmins
Constellation	Orion
Physical characteristics
Radius	-
Absolute magnitude (V)	-
Notable features	-
Other designations	IC 434, Barnard 33
	edit

Template: {{Dark nebula}}

Currently (2005) there are only two dark nebulae on Wikipedia, see List of dark nebulae.

Useful links

• List of asteroids
• List of galaxies
• List of Messier objects
• List of NGC objects
• List of planetary nebulae
• To view changes made in the last 24 hours to astronomy pages on Wikipedia click here

Participants

In alphabetical order:

• AMcWhatever I can do to help...
• Ardric47 I am by now probably a de facto minor participant, having done some lists and things with sourcing.
• Awolf002. Count me in! Up to now I just worked on biographies (crater eponyms) and this project looks good.
• Eric Forste (talk) I feel as if this is the first wikiproject I've joined, so I'm gonna sign my name to it. All y'all that got this thing started up could go ahead and sign yours above mine (or we could just follow the alphabetical convention). Right now I'm working in a sandbox on adding the infobox to Proteus and then I'll be working on Nereid if no one beats me to it.
• Eurocommuter Contributing to trans-Neptunian-related articles, especially with diagrams and solid references (but offering arXiv preprints).
• Hurricane Devon ( Talk ) I'll do galaxies and exoplanets.
• JamesHoadley (talk) It seems I'm helping out at the moment, so I may as well put my name down. Mostly I work on solar system planets and moons, deep sky stuff (nebulae, galaxies) and spacecraft (not in this topic).
• Jyril. I've been creating asteroid and extrasolar planet articles for a long time. (Why I haven't signed earlier?)
• Nicholas. I'm here too.
• RJH (talk). Finished up the lunar craters; now working on propagating starbox template and some of the crater eponym bios.
• shaggy Mostly working on cleaning up articles on trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs. Also, creating articles for notable TNOs and centaurs.
• siafu Working on maintaining the pages on the planets recently.
• Uber nemo (talk). I'll sign my name alphabetically. I am currently working on galaxy stubs and infoboxless articles.
• Urhixidur (talk). I've been banging away at asteroids, mostly.

Pages needing attention

Wikipedia:Pages needing attention/Mathematical and Natural Sciences/Astronomy

[[Category:WikiProject Astronomy|Objects, astronomical]]

[[fr:Wikipédia:Projet/Objets de l'Univers]]
[[ja:Wikipedia:ウィキプロジェクト 天体]]
[[ru:Википедия:Проект:Астрономические Объекты]]