 | The following is a draft working towards a proposal for adoption as a Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal must not be taken to represent consensus, but is still in development and under discussion, and has not yet reached the process of gathering consensus for adoption. Thus references or links to this page should not describe it as policy, guideline, nor yet even as a proposal. |
This draft subpage of the Manual of Style contains guidelines for writing and editing clear, encyclopedic, attractive, and interesting articles on astronomy. For matters of style not treated on this subpage, follow the main Manual of Style and its other subpages to achieve consistency of style throughout Wikipedia.
Articles about astronomical objects should use conventional astronomical naming conventions for the article title, particularly as specified by the International Astronomical Union. In most cases, proper names should only be used when they are the commonly-used name.
For catalogue names, standard astronomy abbreviations can be used. Hence, BD instead of Bonner Durchmusterung and GJ rather than Gliese–Jahreiß. The exception is the Bayer designation of a star, which uses the fully Latinized greek letter followed by the genitive form of the constellation name. An example is Sigma Orionis, for σ Ori.
For components of multiple star system, the convention is to follow the system name by a capital letter. Thus, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. Exoplanets typically use a lower case letter, such as Epsilon Eridani b.
The capitalization of specific astronomy objects is discussed at: MOS:CELESTIALBODIES. The universe, including the visible universe, uses lower case, except when discussing it in its entirety, such as in a multiverse context.
An astronomical image is any image file concerning non-artificial objects or phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere. It can include photographs, diagrams, and illustrations. In addition to the usual standards of image selection outlined by the Wikipedia:Image use policy and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images, which cover image quality and pertinence, other considerations apply to articles about astronomy:
Careful consideration should be made before adding any AI-generated illustrations. The accuracy of the image should be confirmed by an astronomy expert, and copyright use should follow the guidelines for other Wikipedia images.
Per the Manual of Style, the conventional units for astronomy science articles are the International System of Units (SI) and these should be used consistently throughout an article. Astronomy uses certain unit conventions for specific parameters, and these take primacy where appropriate:
Database sources such as SIMBAD, NED, and Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia are invaluable sites for finding reliable sources. However, they are not stable data sources, being subject to change over time. The data comes from multiple overlapping sources, some of which can later be removed. Hence they should not be used directly, but as sources for more static references. But they are useful as a stable reference for the other designations listing.
In the case of the JPL Small-Body Database lookup, the data is not stable, but the report does not always provide an alternative source for static data. The reported data will change over time, particularly in the later decimal fields. Keeping only a few decimals of accuracy will reduce the need to make updates.
There are specific templates for citing catalogues. For example {{Cite EPE}} can be used to cite the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, {{Cite simbad}} can be used to cite SIMBAD, and {{Cite Gaia DR3}} can be used for citing Gaia DR3.
All object-specific infobox data entries should have inline references specifying reliable sources.
Whenever the coordinates of an astronomical object is included, it should also list an epoch so the date context is clear. Typically this is J2000. For a minor planet, the epoch of the listed orbital elements is used.
Providing error ranges gives the reader a useful indication of the accuracy of the data. In most cases where an error range exists, there is little need to retain accuracy beyond the first two or three digits of the error margin. For example, 48.8047215840±1.9920 can be listed as 48.80±1.99.
In some instances, different reliable sources may give data values with error ranges that do not overlap. It may be of interest to provide two or more such data values in the infobox, if this is believed to be of interest to the reader. An example of this are diameter estimates for a minor planet that are derived through different methods. The values should be separated by a comma or a new line, and include the margins of error.
There is a set of standard infoboxes for astronomical objects and associations of different types:
Stellar articles generally include an infobox consisting of templates from the starbox group. These start with the {{Starbox begin}} and continue to the {{Starbox end}}. Typically they will include the {{Starbox observe}}, {{Starbox character}}, {{Starbox astrometry}}, and {{Starbox catalogue}} templates. When a star has more detailed parameter information, {{Starbox detail}} can be included after the Starbox astrometry template. For multi-star systems, the {{Starbox orbit}} and {{Starbox relpos}} templates are available.
For stars that are visible to the naked eye, a location chart may be included at the top of the infobox using the {{Starbox image}} template. These generally use an appropriate constellation map, available from the Wikimedia Commons. The {{Location mark}} template is recommended for overlaying a marker identifying the star, as it provides consistent positioning accuracy. See the starbox image template documentation for further information.
The {{odlist}} template is strongly recommended for formatting the entries in the Starbox catalogue template. The 'name=' field can be used for a proper name. Positions in the equatorial coordinate system can be displayed in a consistent manner using the {{RA}} and {{DEC}} templates.
