Category talk:Special Astronomical Features

Definition

I think this category's definition needs to be re-worded. I remember something distinctly different but cannot find the discussion we had. In short, I thought this category should encompass "anything on the starmaps that isn't a system in the classic sense", mainly nebulas (nebulae?). Cygnus-X1, for example, is a pretty normal system as neutron star-black hole binaries go. It shouldn't be in this category. Systems with multiple suns are nothing extraordinary, though come to think of it we might start subcategories for binary, trinary, etc. star systems. But that's another question. Frabby (talk) 15:32, 13 November 2020 (EST)

I agree that it should be revisited, though I am less firm on what it should look like. I found this discussion because I was going to put Pleiades Cluster in here, but the definition prohibits.--Talvin (talk) 15:16, 4 July 2022 (EDT)

Talvin, I concur as well. I am admittedly a bit of an outsider to the in-unverse astronomial lore, but I concur that precise definitions are key to categorization. Either the definition or name (or both) may need to be reveiwed. Some starting questions for discussion:

1) Does this need to be mutually exclusive from other astronomical/system categories? or can it overlap?

2) Related to point 1, is being uninhabited a critical feature of being an astronomial feature? (I personally would think not, as the term simply suggests something interesting about the astronomy. The presence or absence of colonies (or anything manmade) would seem to be something independent in my book.)

3) Is there an explicit list (or at least a partial list) of features that could serve as a helpful set of examples? (The current definiton seems to delineate nebulae, star clusters, and black holes as items definitely belonging to the category. Is there anything else?)

4) Are there any helpful anti-examples? Are there things that would clearly disqualify something as belonging to this category?

Talvin, given your perusal of much of the planet and system articles, I suspect you are starting to develop an interesting birds-eye view. So please share any insights that have arisen from that perusal process. --Dude RB (talk) 15:47, 4 July 2022 (EDT)

My perusal has been almost entirely category-focused, and for the last 48 hours or so almost entirely focused on "Damage Control", sad to say. This one just jumped at me as "odd". The person I normally defer to on such matters is a serious Astronomy Nerd (familiarly respectful form of that appellation) but she is dealing with RL stuff and not available right now. All I have is *questions*. :D --Talvin (talk) 16:07, 4 July 2022 (EDT)