 | This page documents an English Wikipedianotability guideline. Editors should generally follow it, thoughexceptions may apply.Substantive edits to this pageshould reflect consensus. |
 | This page in a nutshell:
|
| Notability |
|---|
| General notability guideline |
| Subject-specific guidelines |
| See also |
This guideline reflects establishedconsensus about thenotability ofastronomical objects, which is required for them to be the topic of a Wikipedia article. It is asubject-specific supplement to thegeneral notability guideline, developed byWikiproject Astronomy.
This guideline applies toastronomical objects – naturally occurringphysical bodies, associations, or structures that exist inouter space. This includesgalaxies,nebulae,star clusters,star systems, individualstars,planets,minor planets,asteroids,comets, andmoons. It also includes bodies of matter that are held together by masses other than their own, such ascircumstellar discs,accretion discs, orzodiacal dust; regions defined by thelarge-scale structure of theUniverse (e.g.galaxy filaments andcosmic voids); and groups that appear solely due to Earth's viewing perspective (e.g.asterisms andoptical double stars).
It doesnot cover artificial objects in space (such asartificial satellites orspacecraft); theairspace of Earth;extraterrestrial geologic features (such as craters or mountains); or extraterrestrial material that has been transported to Earth (such asMoon rocks,meteor showers andmeteorites). Nor does this guideline apply to fictional objects, such as those that appear inscience fiction. Candidate objects or those which are the subject of serious scientific hypothesis arediscussed below.
On Wikipedia, "notable" means "worthy of notice"; it is not synonymous with "famous" or "important". Astronomical objects are notable if they have received substantial attention and coverage inreliable sources, usually the scientific literature and/or popular media. Famous astronomical objects have readily availableverifiable information from reliable sources that indicate notability; however, more obscure objects can still be notable.
Coverage must be specific and substantial: notability is not ensured just because an object is listed in ascientific paper or included in a large-scaleastronomical survey. To establish notability, the astronomical object must havesignificant commentary in reliable sources, such as being one of the primary targets of a study with in-depth discussion (beyond discovery and basic parameters).
Being listed in a database does not make an object notable. Some astronomical databases and surveys, such as theJPL Small-Body Database,SIMBAD or theGaia catalogue, list millions[1][2] or billions[3] of objects. Many objects listed in catalogues and databases have little information beyond their basic parameters and discovery circumstances. Wikipediadoes not duplicate content in these databases.
Notability is determined solely by coverage in reliable sources, not whether editors personally believe an astronomical object is important. Just because an astronomical objectexists in space does not mean it is necessarily notable i.e. there is noinherent notability without coverage in reliable sources.
On Earth,many named places are considered notable, but this isnot true for astronomical objects: the naming of a body in space (such as an asteroid) does not confer notability. It is much less likely that there are sufficient sources to write a Wikipedia article for an arbitrary astronomical object than an arbitrary place on Earth. For example, if aminor planet has received an official name from theCommittee for Small Body Nomenclature, that does not necessarily mean that object is notable. If an astronomical object has been named but is not notable, it could still be included in a suitablelist of similar objects.
For the purposes of establishing notability, coverage must be of the astronomical object itself, not other things that may be related to it. Merely being associated with another notable topic does not mean the object itself is notable, i.e. there isnoinherited notability.
For example, if an object was discovered by a famous astronomer, that does not necessarily make it notable. Nor does beingnamed after something notable make the object itself notable. If the individual object has received insufficient coverage inindependent sources, then it is not notable even if similar objects are often notable. Moons of a notable planet are not necessarily notable, and planets of a notable star are not necessarily notable.
If an astronomical object meetsany of the following criteria, it is presumed notable. These criteria below are presented asrules of thumb for easily identifying astronomical objects that Wikipedia should probably have articles about. In almost all cases, a thorough search forindependent, third-party reliable sources will be successful for an astronomical objects meeting one or more of these criteria. However, meeting these criteria is not an absolute guarantee that Wikipedia should have a separate, stand-alone article entirely dedicated to the astronomical object.
Whether an object meets these criteria must be established throughindependentreliable sources, followingWP:NRV. This meansindependent of the scientist(s) who discovered the object, or others who may have aconflict of interest in promoting it. Sources generated by the discoverers may be used as references for factual information in the article, but they cannot be used to establish notability. Seeguidance below on finding sources.
If an astronomical object meets none of these criteria, itcould still be notable for other non-astronomical reasons e.g. as a literary topic. Such cases should follow thegeneral notability guideline.
If an astronomical object is not notable, so cannot have its own article, a few sentences about the object might be useful in another article or it could be included in alist.
Astronomical objects that are part of a hierarchy of objects, such as aplanetary system orstar system, can often be beneficially merged into the article about the wider system or hosting object. For example, if there are several exoplanets orbiting a single star, they could be discussed in a section of the article on the host star, rather than each planet having a separate article. Content included in a broader article isnot subject to the same notability criteria as stand-alone articles; instead it is governed by the principles ofdue weight and the generalcontent policies.
If none of the criteria are met, the object isn't notable for other reasons, and there is no suitable target for a merger, deletion may be necessary. See thedeletion policy for further steps.
When nominating an article for deletion (via either thePROD orAfD process), please place{{WikiProject Astronomy|object=yes}} at the top of its talk page, as well as any other relevant Wikiproject templates (e.g.{{WikiProject Physics}} for an object which is of particular interest to physics). This will notifyWikiProject Astronomy viaWP:AALERTS that the article is being considered for deletion. If using the AfD process, you can also tag the deletion discussion with{{subst:delsort|Astronomy|~~~~}}, which will list the discussion atWikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Astronomy.
Many astronomical objects have more than one valid name or catalogue designation, seeastronomical naming conventions. When searching for sources, try using alternative identifiers or standard abbreviations e.g. 'kap Cep' or 'HR 7750' forKappa Cephei, or 'NGC 2392' for theEskimo Nebula.
There are several astronomy-specific search engines which can be consulted:
There is no equivalent to SIMBAD or NED for objects within the Solar System.[note 3]
PerWP:MASSCREATION, the systematic creation of articles on astronomical objects based on information retrieved from various astronomical databases should be discussed atWT:ASTRO first.
Candidate astronomical objects, or those proposed by a serious scientific hypothesis, are notable only if they have received substantial commentary in multiple independent reliable sources, percriterion 3. Any article about the object must explicitly state that it is hypothetical or a candidate, unless/until confirmed by multiple independent reliable sources. Care should be taken with popular media sources based upon apress release issued by the discoverer or proposer, as they might not be independent (seechurnalism). Substantial original journalism and/or comments from independent experts are necessary to establish the notability of hypothetical or candidate objects.
Before 2012, when this notability guideline did not yet exist, approximately 20,000 asteroid stubs were mass-created bybots and human editors. This created a considerable backlog of articles to be cleaned up, redirected, merged, or deleted. To not overly burden the community, editors should not nominate more than 10 asteroids a day toAfD for discussion.
By consensus, asteroidsnumbered below2000 should be discussed before re-directing. For asteroids numbered above 2000, if an article of questionable notability is found,and a good-faith search has failed to locate references establishing notability, then it is appropriate to redirect the article to the correspondinglist of minor planets (or other appropriate list, like alist of TNOs), keeping the original categories and{{DEFAULTSORT}} information. For best results, the redirect should use{{NASTRO comment}} and target the specific entry on the list article.
For example, suppose you want to create a redirect to the minor-planet entry57658 Nilrem57658 Nilrem on theList of minor planets: 57001–58000 article. This minor planet is found at the anchor#658 on the list page. Hence, a redirect can be created with the following content:
#REDIRECT[[List of minor planets: 57001–58000#658]]{{NASTRO comment}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Nilrem}}[[Category:Background asteroids|057658]][[Category:Discoveries by Michel Ory]][[Category:Named minor planets]][[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 2001|20011017]]
The template{{Anchor}} can be used to create a stable anchor point for a redirect.
HAT-P-40 b is ahot Jupiterexoplanet. Its discovery was announced in 2012 by theHATNet Project in a paper on three new discoveries.[5] It has been included in several large catalogues and databases,[6][7] and included in a list of possible targets for follow-up[8] (where it was given the lowest priority). In 2019, it wasassigned the proper name 'Vytis' byNameExoWorlds.[9] However, as of 2023[update], none of those sources provide any significant commentary on this particular exoplanet beyond the initial discovery paper. There have been no observations by other teams of astronomers, nor has there been any coverage in the popular media. The object exists, but does not meet any of the criteria above so does not have an article on Wikipedia; instead it has a one-line entry in theList of exoplanets discovered in 2012. The host star (TYC 3607-1028-1) is not independently notable either, so also doesn't have an article.
Gliese 1214 b was discovered in 2009 by theMEarth Project;[10] it was one of the first knownsuper Earth exoplanets. There have been numerous studies by other teams of astronomers devoted to just this object,[11] several of which have been reported in the popular media.[12] It easily passesthe third criterion, so is notable and has a stand-alone article.
The asteroid(182016) 1999 XF255is listed in theJPL Small-Body Database andby theMinor Planet Center. However, it does not appear in searches for additional references. The asteroid exists, but has received no substantial commentary, or study beyond refining its orbit. Information about this object is therefore included in the correspondinglist of minor planets, not a stand-alone article.
532 Herculina is another asteroid. It has received multiple follow-up studies, by teams of astronomers unrelated to the discoverer, including an observation by theHubble Space Telescope. Independent references provide substantial commentary on its shape and discussion of a possibleasteroid moon. It is therefore notable and has a stand-alone article.
The notability of astronomical objects isnot inherited from any famous individual or mythological character they may be named after. If a non-notable asteroid is named after a notable person or character, it may be appropriate to include this informationin the article about the person or character.
For example, the asteroid165347 Philplait was named afterPhil Plait, a notable astronomer, but the asteroid does not meet the criteria above. Instead,165347 Philplait redirects toList of minor planets: 165001–166000 § 347 and the naming of the asteroid is mentioned atPhil Plait § Awards and honors. The asteroid isalso included in the list articlemeanings of minor planet names.
If an object is notable under the criteria above, then the origin of its name should be explained in its article. An example is45 Eugenia, which is named after the EmpressEugénie de Montijo but is notable for other reasons.
In 1850 [...] the first daguerreotype ever made of a star, the bright Vega, was taken by J.A. Whipple working under W.C. Bond