Hi there! I'd like to invite you to explore Wikimedia Canada, and create a list of people interested in forming a local chapter for our nation. A local chapter will help promote and improve the organization, within our great nation. We'd also like to encourage everyone to suggest projects for our national chapter to participate in. Hope to see you there! -- user:zanimum
Star Chart
The chart is a really good idea. I take it that you created it? The only quibble I have is that the cross-hairs are hard to see unless you download the high-resolution image. Is it possible to expand them? Make the red? Something to make the actual location more visible? - Beowulf31415919:00, 26 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, the star is supposed to be hard to see. Seriously, the problem with making a thumbnail-sized narrow-field finding chart is that you lose all context.
Hi, thanks for your comments about structure on the talk page. Sorry I'm still new to Wiki so I don't really know how things work yet, but I'd like to contribute if I can (certainly not hinder) and as you seem to be active in the area!. I've expanded my initial comments (uneducated, but I'm getting better) on the talk page and set up a mock page under user:shrew/sandbox to try out the ideas - and it don't even know enough to give you a link there. Any views ? Shrew14:26, 3 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, I see where the confusion arose. Taking 2003 UB313, the number 523927 is just the orbit simulator's record number. It has nothing to do with the IAU designation. Note how the page you quoted designated the object as "2003 UB313", without a number. If you want to check designations, use the MPC's asteroid designation search form. You should also take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the mp, mpl and mpl- templates: they'll save you a lot of typing.
If it were just up to me, I'd dump the image entirely. The other option is to put some introductory text that would fill the white space to the image's left.
I like your work on the periodic comet entries! There are about 15 more stubs I will make from the MPC orbital data, and I will add your improvements to all. Awolf00218:24, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I would like a personal e-mail stating why you have taken out my corrected version of "Deeper Explanation". What I have said is inevitably the truth and you some how can not see it. Greyfades@Gmail.com
The text was moved to Talk:Hertz#"Deeper_explanation" until it could be made understandable before possible inclusion in the article. Please address your arguments there.
Thanks for uploading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Portrait_de_famille_%281_px_%3D_1000_km%29.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is therefore unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then you need to argue that we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then you should also specify where you found it, i.e., in most cases link to the website where you got it, and the terms of use for content from that page.
If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then you must also add one. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then you can use {{GFDL-self}} to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media qualifies as fair use, please read fair use, and then use a tag such as {{Non-free fair use in|article name}} or one of the other tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags#Fair_use. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.
If you have uploaded other media, please check that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Dethomas02:49, 3 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The key point is that there is no standard. Markus Kuhn originally proposed b for byte and bit for bit, in order to leave the B for the bel. « The IEC recommends to use only "bit" [as a symbol for bit] (e.g. Mbit for megabit) for maximum disambiguation from byte » (from the byte article). According to http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj/binprefixes.html, the IEEE (IEEE 1541) uses b for bit, but the IEC (IEC 60027-2) uses bit (no word on the byte). At the very least, the IEC column should use the IEC symbol!
Ohhhh, I didn't notice that. I thought they just absorbed everything that the IEC suggested. I like the IEC's version better, but I guess there's no standard. — Omegatron21:25, 17 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Since there's no standard, I'd like {{Quantities of bits}} to use "bit" for both. 00:36, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Isn't it "fairer" to use "b" in the left column and "bit" in the right? That way we celebrate the computer industry's chaos...
At AfD, scilicet, here, User:Olliminatore who appears to have contributed copiously to the German-language Wikipedia but only to have recently ventured into the English-language version, has nominated your ":)" template for deletion, ostensibly thinking the template simply to be a smiley face. Another user advised her to relist the template at TfD, and, so, I thought perhaps you might drop her a note to let her know of the continued import of the template (should the template continue to be important. Cordially, Joe23:33, 19 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I see you moved Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale to decapitalise "hurricane scale", however the tropical cyclone wikiproject has discussed this before and agreed that since the NHC does not decapitalise the words we would follow the NHC standard, so I'm reverting your move. NSLE(T+C) at 04:46 UTC (2006-03-26)
I see the exception to the usual rule was noted on the Talk page. Mea culpa and sorry for the trouble, then.
I am a new Wikipedia user so excuse me if I'm wrong. Are you the person who included the statement about OSSETT "Its ancient name was Deira." on 6 August 2005? If so - I think this is not correct. Ossett has never been known as Deira as far as I know.
That's what Cyril V. Jackson believed, anyway. Look at Meanings_of_asteroid_names_(1001-1500)#201: under 1244 Deira we read « Ancient name of Ossett, Yorkshire, the discoverer's birthplace ». The sources are [2] and Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets. Was he right in his belief? http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Y/YO/YORKSHIRE.htm mentions « The kingdom of Deira, which was afterwards to include the whole of modern Yorkshire ». So the Ossett-Deira connection is just an exaggeration. I'll edit accordingly. Thanks for spotting that.
Cool. I added a note explaining that H for Mercury is a USGS convention, likely taken from the IAU. This leaves the question of "S/1974 H 1" open --although I agree this is what the code should be, I suspect it never has actually been used. Urhixidur00:15, 22 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
PSF in French
Do you happen to know the French term for Point Spread Function (as used for HST 'direct' measures)? I updated the graph of the
Termium, la banque de données terminologiques et linguistiques du gouvernement du Canada, spécifie « fonction d’étalement ponctuel ». Urhixidur16:07, 24 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
that i corrected a serious error "Alternate exact definition" that you made to the SI definition of the unit of electric current, Ampere. it's amazing that this error was left uncorrected for more than 18 months. in an article about objective physical convention, please be careful with applying words like "definition" and "exactly". do not apply those terms to things that are neither definitions nor exact. Rbj01:04, 4 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I love a good argument. Considering:
1) CIPM, 1988, Recommendation 2 (PV, 56, 45 and Metrologia, 1989, 26, 70) recommends « that 25 812.807 W exactly be adopted as a conventional value, denoted by RK-90, for the von Klitzing constant, RK ».
2) CIPM, 1988, Recommendation 1 (PV, 56, 44 and Metrologia, 1989, 26, 69) recommends « that 483 597.9 GHz/V exactly be adopted as a conventional value, denoted by KJ-90 for the Josephson constant, KJ ».
3) Since KJ = 2he and RK = 1/he², we have e = 2/(RKKJ)
4) Hence the exact value quoted originally (defining the Ampere-second in terms of 1/e = RKKJ with no loss of precision).
It should be understood, however, that this exact value is not endorsed by the CIPM, which was careful to state that « Recommendations 1 (CI-1988) and 2 (CI-1988) do not constitute a redefinition of Sl units. The conventional values KJ-90 and RK-90 cannot be used as bases for defining the volt and the ohm (meaning the present units of electromotive force and electrical resistance in the Système International d’Unités (SI)). To do so would change the status of µ0 from that of a constant having an exactly defined value (and would therefore abrogate the definition of the ampere) and would also produce electrical units which would be incompatible with the definition of the kilogram and units derived from it. »
This "contradiction" holds true only if one keeps the original definition of the ampere, which is why I presented this as an alternate definition. So, you are right in saying it is not a definition --not an official one--, but you are wrong in claiming the value is not exact.
You have added the minor planet template to various asteroid's articles (including 22 Kalliope). I suggest that you remove surface gravity from the table. This is not a meaningful concept for many asteroids, because rotation causes the gravity to change by more than 10% unless the object is spinning very slowly. Michaelbusch16:00, 9 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Quite right, and I would add that non-sphericity also throws local gravity considerably in some cases. This is a subject best covered under the microgravity or asteroid articles, though. Casual readers tend to want to draw up comparative tables of rotation periods, masses, surface gravity and so on, so it would be a disservice to "censor" that tit-bit away. Urhixidur16:42, 9 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Radar Size Analysis
Do you have a reference for the following:
"Analysis of the radar return's strength can tell them apart, but this is not done in a busy environment because of the time it requires."
Please leave the reply here as I do not sign in to Wikipedia and IPs can change.
Not as such, that statement is just my own experience with the way things are done in the milieu (I used to work in operational research). The previous claim that the two could be "easily" told apart didn't ring true, in part because the Aegis only deals in tracks, and the detail of the track's physical attributes is not dragged along. Any signal analysis required (DSP, digital signal processing) would need to be done at the radar itself --the SIGINT folks do this as a matter of routine, the operational folks don't.
Of course, if we could find a quotable source either way, it would clarify things.
Thanks for you response.
I found a piece of info. somewhere, forgot to save the link :( - that it is not that easy for oncomming objects to differentiate the size but it is very easy if the object being tracked from the side. It is likely that they were not able to or did not try. 203.48.45.19423:50, 10 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Coordinates
Greetings. I don't think putting coordinates at the beginning of the article is a good idea (like you have done for example in the Sudbury Basin article; first thing the reader should see when he starts to read the article is the subject, marked with bolded font). Instead, the coords template could be replaced with a box that could be located in the top-right corner of the article (a bit like the old astrobox template, see NGC 3109 for an example). It would be easily noticeable (unlike when the coordinates are within text), but it wouldn't be as obtrusive. There should be some sort of standard, every location article needs coordinates displayed.--JyriLtalk19:51, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, a lot of your orphaned talk pages on names of asteroids have been tagged for deletion and some of them have been deleted. As orphaned talk pages are speedied, and these pages would mostly fit the criteria of little or no context for speedy deletion if created in article space, perhaps you would like them userfied? CanadianCaesarCæsar is turn’d to hear21:59, 27 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the heads-up. I restored the pages and added a paragraph explaining why they should be kept until later. I'm amazed the speedy-deleters showed less intelligence than the average Wiki bot does --they could have bothered to ask the contributor (me) the reason behind those pages...
An image that you uploaded or altered, Image:Vladimir Alekseyevich Soloviyov.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. Please go to its page to provide the necessary information on the source or licensing of this image (if you have any), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you.
Move it? I don't know why not. I've seen barnstars on other user pages, but I don't think there's a special user template. If you want to create a vertical format, I don't see why you shouldn't. By the way, I want to apologize for my two (known) misspellings of asteroid names that James Janderson transplanted to his articles. I left a message on his talk page pointing out where to check these things. From his latest contribution on 2300 Stebbins, it looks like he's picked up on the Template:MinorPlanets Navigator and Template:MinorPlanets_Footer. On a personal note, I spent most of the summer of 1970 in La Pocatière, Quebec, in a Peace Corps training program for francophone Africa. My French is okay for a tourist, but I wouldn't presume to try to write in French for Wikipedia. Cheers! -- Cuppysfriend16:06, 18 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Binary asteroids
Can you explain your tagging bodies like 2003 UB313, 2003 EL61, 1995 TL8, etc, as "binary asteroids?" I can understand the "binary" part, but describing these trans-Neptunian objects as asteroids seems a little far-fetched. Asteroid defines itself as "a predominantly rocky body that orbits around its star... The vast majority of the asteroids are found within the main asteroid belt, with elliptical orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter." I just don't think that you can list TNOs, Kuiper Belt objects, and the like, as asteroids... at the least, a little rationale would be nice. Ermar
You are correct in that the category we need is actually "Binary minor planets", but it doesn't exist yet. Shortsightedness on our collective part when the category structure was put in place, I suppose. The problem is that a whole slew of new categories (all of them sub-categories of Category:Minor planets) needs to be created and populated, only one of which already exists:
I believe that this image is wrong. The error consists on calling mean anomaly M to what it is called true anomaly V. The mean anomaly goes from the center of the ellipse and it doesn't arrive at the planet but to the fictitious body that moves uniformly. If something parts from the primary one and it arrives at the secondary one, the angle with the periapsis cannot be other thing that the true anomaly. I suggest to correct this image or to use Image:Orbital elements.svg that doesn't have that error. There are many wikipedias that use this image in multiple articles like the English (en) and Catalan (ca).
http:es.wikipedia.org/Usuario:xgarciaf july 24, 2006
The problem is not so much the illustration as the accompanying caption(s). The orbital element that needs to be explained is the mean anomaly, but you are correct in saying that this has no true geometric meaning. I'll try and fix this. Image:Orbital elements.svg is nice, but it avoids the "error" by omitting M altogether... --Urhixidur18:15, 24 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Comment on 'Important Matter'
Forgive me if I seem picky, but the illustration does label 'T' (True Anomaly) as 'M' (Mean Anomaly) which is just not correct. It is comparable to labeling a square with the word 'circle'. Since the problem is with labeling, and the label is a part of the illustration (and it's successor Image:Orbit.svg composed by Arpad Horvath) then the problem is with the illustration. It genuinely misled me at one point while I was devising a fictional solar system for Celestia and my planets were winding up in the wrong places for particular times. My solar system description files were composed based on the misunderstanding garnered from this illustration, and it was the articles True Anomaly and Mean Anomaly and the accompanying diagram (Image:Kepler's-equation-scheme.png) that eventually set me straight.
I see you have posted caveats (orbital elements); I think that helps, since it puts literal-minded people (such as myself ;) on alert. Thank you for that, but the illustration is still labeling one concept as another concept so the misleading condition has not been truely eliminated. See also my comments at Image talk:Orbit.svg.
I feel the cleaner solution is to have a correct drawing in the first place. I'm not convinced that Image:Orbital elements.svg addresses the issue; it simply does not include the time argument. In truth, the visualization of M is problematical since it plots a position that doesn't correspond to the orbiting body, it revolves around the geometric center of the ellipse, not the focus, and plots a position on the auxiliary circle, not in the orbital path. Introducing these new components into the diagram will make for a more complicated drawing — Gosgood11:31, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Part of my problem is that I have not found yet, or had time to properly investigate, an SVG drawing tool. A drawing showing the various anomalies already exists, and is used by the anomaly articles. I wish Image:Orbital elements.svg were oriented more like Image:Orbit.svg, because as it is currently rendered the plane in which the argument of periapsis is measured is not as clear as it should be. I agree that Image:Orbit.png whould be done away with. --Urhixidur14:05, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Why are you moving Swedish observatories from their actual officially used English names to Swedish names (and incorrect Swedish names at that)? According to the "use English" policy, we should use English names where available. u◦p◦p◦l◦a◦n◦d15:19, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Incorrect, you say? I tried to retrieve them directly from the original sites. Please correct them if possible. As for the policy, you're right, I've been overdoing it; now that the redirects are created, I'll swap the relevant pages. --Urhixidur15:24, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Swedish names of public institutions usually use lowercase ("Stockholms observatorium"). BTW, "Stockholm Observatory" is both the name of the institute and the commonly used name of the oldest observatory building from the 18th century (the one depicted in the article). The institute has been known as the "Stockholm Observatory" all along, but was housed 1931-2001 in the Saltsjöbaden Observatory ("Saltsjöbadens observatorium") (image from the air), which should probably get an article of its own at some point. u◦p◦p◦l◦a◦n◦d15:52, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, that's an 18th century engraving. Uppercase was much more commonly used at that time (and well into the second half of the 19th century), and there was no standardized orthography in any case. With the current influence of English, some things may well change back to the way they were, at least if signs in shops are anything to go by... u◦p◦p◦l◦a◦n◦d16:13, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Translation (?)
Hello again five-oh-one. The Slovak language WP has articles on 2177 Oliver (now en 2177 Oliver, thanks Urhixidur) and 2521 Heidi (now en 2521 Heidi thanks again Urhixidur) which are not yet included in this language. I'm wary of trying to copy their data into an infobox because I haven't a clue as to what it all means. Soooo kind Sir, have you the time or inclination to do justice for my deceased colleague Barney and my very much alive wife Heidi? :-) --hydnjotalk18:15, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Nothing to translate really, the sk articles are both crude stubs. They even get 2177 Oliver's diameter wrong. Done and done. --Urhixidur20:56, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You need to switch [[{{{1}}}|{{{l1|1}}}]] with [[{{{1}}}|{{{l1|{{{1}}}}}}]] and so on if you want your edit to function properly. The way you have it causes every page to display an ugly number instead of the link if no value is specificed for l1. – Someguy0830 (Talk | contribs) 02:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is a really good addition, by the way. One thing, though. You have a slight error to correct. The third and fourth fields aren't formatted correctly. You need to replace the third and fourth fields with [[{{{3}}}|{{{l3|{{{3}}}}}}]] and [[{{{4}}}|{{{l4|{{{4}}}}}}]] so the link formatting will work properly. – Someguy0830 (Talk | contribs) 05:14, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ack, I'm usually better than this. Fixed now, hopefully for the last time. Good to know I have such a meticulous peer reviewer...
What determines the order of the navigations on the bottom of a satellite page (specifically, Saturn's satellites)? I ask this because the order of navigation sometimes differs from the order on the footers, and sometimes differs between two articles entirely. Example: The navigations for Pandora (moon) and S/2004 S 6 both place those moons after Prometheus (moon) while the Prometheus navigation bar places Pandora after despite the fact that the Template:Saturn Full Footer places S/2004 S6 after it; meanwhile, Pandora's navigation places Pan (moon) after it while the footer places Pan first -- even though the navigation on Pan places it after Pandora. Thus, are these order based on size, difference, year of discovery, group, etc? And no matter what order they are in (and by the way, the footer should explain the order -- e.g. "<small> in order of distance from <planet><small>"), the footer and navigation should match. 24.126.199.12923:05, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Complete agreement. The footers and navigators were initially set up in order of increasing semi-major axis (or period, which is the same thing). They've drifted out of synch as a result of multitudinous editors going over the various articles. Note that even this apparently simple sort sequence was not obvious to set up, as Jupiter's moons (for example) had inconsistent semi-major axis / period pairs in some sources, such as the JPL pages. I'll see what I can do to fix this.
Saturn is fixed. It had been switched to order of discovery, which is itself dubious (order of permanent naming? order of original imaging? publication? See the timeline of discovery of solar system planets and their natural satellites to get an idea how complicated it can get). Methinks we should switch to proper succession boxes, which means we could then have sets by semi-major axis, by discovery date, by size, etc.
Such a navigator would be of more benefit for the reader I believe as it would organise the visit. The satellites inside a sub-category could be ordered following a or sizes (H) for the irregulars. I feel the Wikipedia articles on the natural satellites are far better than other popular sources by putting forward a structure as opposed to the raw lists found in other places. An organised navigator would fit this approach nicely IMHO. Eurocommuter11:30, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Could you put together some samples of what you're thinking of in your sandbox? Then I'll comment.
I was thinking about something similar to this. Fringe members could be in italic for example (formal classification is not a factor here I think). Prograde and retrograde could be separated in two parts of the table (left/right) etc. Eurocommuter20:59, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm...My preference would be to use the small Template:Jupiter and combine it with a small footer specific to each group. What do you say?
One could even modify the Jupiter so it accepts a sublist as an argument; this would give a footer that, in the case of each group, would develop the group into a parenthesised list. Let me make up an example and you'll see.
Yes, I like your idea of a more compact navigator, listing only the groups with a single group expanded. Formatting is a pain given the long lists for some groups but I hope you’ll get fixed. Expanding/collapsing groups the way some hide/show boxes work could be a next improvement. Eurocommuter08:47, 4 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Planet symbols
I see you're changing symbols around. Do you have a matching set? Some are black, while others are blue, and I had to adjust the size of Mercury's symbol in the Planet article and add spaces to the sides, since the svg does not have space around the symbol like the pngs. └OzLawyer / talk┐18:02, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Judging by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Planet_symbols, there is no complete set yet, nor is there even a consistent naming convention. Still, we gotta move to svg and to Wikimedia, so...Someone will eventually do the missing images in a consistent style and colour. Then we can retrofix them. The Mercury svg is obviously a conversion of the png, so it's not in the same style or colour as the Mars svg (for example). It may be better (for now) to use the ant.png set until the svg set is done properly...
I’ve noticed you’ve been fighting with Minor planet infobox template some time ago. I wandered if you could tell me whether it is possible to use #if: to have an optional row in a table (skipped if a parameter is unknown). I’ve tried and failed quickly on the pipes (Template:irregular satellite). Thanks! Eurocommuter15:14, 9 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ne serait-il pas plus simple de spécifier les valeurs par défaut des arguments ? Généralement un point d'interrogation. Ça serait mieux que d'escamoter la ligne du tableau.
Yes, that’s what I did. Still I fail to see how to use #if: (which is using pipes) inside a template (table) using pipes. Thanks Eurocommuter
Hmmm. J'ai fait quelques tests et il semble que substituer "|" à "|" fonctionne. On peut même laisser les alinéas tels quels, sans avoir à substituer "<br/>".
I believe I remember you’ve played with re-calculations of inclinations from planet’s equator/ecliptic/Laplace plane in the past. Do you have some astronomical ref or just plain spherical trigonometry? I’m asking as I’m a bit stuck with some irregular satellites. On one hand I would like to avoid calculation (see discussion on project page) and stick to external sources, on the other Jacobson (JPL) is using some Laplace plane in some cases and the ecliptic in others. I would rather stick to ref data but giving inclination to some plane requires defining this plane and even then it may be confusing as differently tilted planes are used for different satellites. What would you suggest? Eurocommuter17:02, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
to the ecliptic provides a common reference, since that's how the planetary orbits are described.
to Earth's equator is not of much use by itself, but having the RA and Dec of the pole is nice because it allows one to visualise the object's sky using pretty much any simple astronomical software (such as Megastar).
to the primary's equator is a solid visual reference; it allows one to visualise a mobile, and to do other calculations such as from which latitudes the satellite may be seen (e.g. Phobos), or what one can see from the satellite (e.g. Saturn's rings: it turns out the best view is from Mimas —the other moons are closer but at such low inclinations they don't see much).
to the local Laplace plane is useless unless the plane's orientation is also defined —but it is a significant reference in terms of the satellite's dynamical evolution.
Talk:Phoebe (moon) gives an idea of the difficulty in getting access to the references.
Thanks! The Phoebe talk was the one I remembered from the past but could not locate. (Varying) Laplace planes are used by Jacobson for irregulars of Jupiter, logically, as the elements are ‘mean’ and the objective is classification into groups. Eurocommuter18:25, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm constructing some user friendly orbital charts for the moons of the gas giants but it seems like the lists of moons are a real mess (compare Saturn's natural satellites to Siarnaq (moon)). It seems like people confused inclination to the eclyptic with inclination to the equator. If there is no source for inclination to the equator, could you maybe help me with the formula you used to calculate the inclination to the equator from the inclination to the eclyptic? I'm not quite comfortable with spherical trigonometry. If I had the formula I could fix the mess as well. Krystman16:28, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think your best bet would be to use the NSES (Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service) to obtain ecliptic orbital parameters, although they do not cover inner satellites. I'm in the process of putting together a Celestia solarsys.ssc that uses the JPL mean orbital parameters as much as possible, plugging the holes from the NSES and few other sources. Wait until that's done --it should be a sound basis. Meanwhile, you have no choice but to brush up on your spherical trig...
The inclination for inner satelites is no problem. They are quite often very close to the equatorial plane anyway. NSES delivers inclination relative to ecliptic? That would mean that all inclination values in the table on the Jupiter's natural satellites page are wrong (At least for the irregular moons)! That explains why your values were so different.
My problem is that frankly, spherical trigonometry is absolutly new to me. I've tried the wikipedia entry and google but what I found was either very general or formulas to convert coordinates between different systems. I found nothing about the conversion of an angle. What formula did you use to calculate all those inclinations? Krystman23:43, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, orbital elements are normally given with reference to the ecliptic. Compare, for example, the NSES orbital elements for Ymir and Paaliaq with the JPL mean elements (which are clearly labeled as ecliptic), and you'll see how closely they match. It's not perfect, of course, because NSES gives an instantaneous orbit and JPL lists a mean orbit --and some of the irregular satellite orbits can wander quite far away from their means.
Spherical trig boils down to drawing spherical triangles and applying the law of sines or the law of cosines (spherical). The spherical law of sines is similar to the plane trig case:
I need some help with the article Near-visible EMR. It is partially covered by other articles Light, visible spectrum, Electromagnetic radiation. None of these terms are suitable for optoelectronic devices, to link from these articles. My new article is about a definition in terms of astrophysics, not school physics including irrelevant spectrum pictures. The articles are long, though the information could be included into a section. I ma not really an expert on the subject, however i hope for more easy-understandable articles. User:Yy-bo22:09, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It has been two whole months since I -- properly -- asked a question regarding these values at Talk: Jupiter's natural satellites and made changes in the article. Why are you only responding now with this aggressive language? Are you imputing bad faith to my changes? As best I recall, there was no consistent relationship between the older values in the table and the NSES values, suggesting that the older values were not only computed to a different standard, but were in error as well -- so restoring the older values in the table doesn't solve the problem. I must ask whether you know that the NSES data is computed relative to Jupiter's equatorial plane, or whether you are simply assuming that.RandomCritic05:14, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry if you found my intervention "aggressive"; that was not the intent. As for the delay, it is a consequence of my limted spare time being split between family, the English and French Wikipedias, the French Wiktionary, and a few other pursuits.
You simply slammed the NSES orbital element inclinations into the table (sometimes incorrectly rounded off to boot), whereas the table column clearly states they should be reported with respect to Jupiter's equator. It is then a simple matter of computing the angle between the Jupiter rotation pole (reported in the Jupiter infobox) and each object's orbital pole (which can be computed readily from the NSES longitude of the ascending node and inclination). Adding a second inclination column reporting the ecliptic inclinations would be the better way of fixing this mess.
Draw a spherical triangle in equatorial coordinates; one summit (C in the diagram) is the Earth's rotation pole, one side (b) runs down from this summit along the ecliptic's RA as meridian, and has an arc equal to the obliquity of the ecliptic in length. From this second summit, the next leg (c) continues the first, oriented by the object's orbital ascending node longitude in the anti-clockwise direction (180° minus alpha). This second leg's length is the object's inclination in length. The last leg (a) is the orbital pole's codeclination. Hence, applying the spherical law of sines and the law of cosines:
orbital pole R.A. = (Ecliptic pole R.A.) + asin( sin(i)*sin(node)/sin(orbital pole codec.) ) = 305.24°
orbital pole dec. = 90° - acos( cos(90° - (Ecliptic pole dec.))*cos(i) + sin(90° - (Ecliptic pole dec.))*sin(i)*cos(180° - node)) = -86.37°
The object's inclination with respect to Jupiter's equator is then simply the angle between the Jupiter rotation pole and the object's orbital pole. The spherical triangle again uses the Earth's rotation pole as a summit (C), and has two legs running down the meridians corresponding to the Jupiter rotation pole R.A. (b) and the object's orbital pole R.A. (a). These legs' lengths are their respective codeclinations:
Incl. to Jupiter's pole = acos(cos(Jupiter rotation pole codec.)*cos(orbital pole codec.) + sin(Jupiter rotation pole codec.)*sin(orbital pole codec.)*cos((Jupiter rotation pole R.A.) - (orbital pole R.A.))) = 151.52°
Similar calculations yield the inclination to the primary's orbit = 153.62°, or with respect to Earth's equator = 176.37°.
A complication arises because of the angular ambiguity of the asin and acos functions. Fortunately, the ambiguity over the codeclination is easily lifted, since codeclinations cannot be negative. The ambiguity over the difference in R.A. is trickier, and requires that a third relation be used to pick the correct value. This third equation is Cos(i) = Cos(ε)Cos(codec) + Sin(ε)Sin(codec)Cos(Δα), where ε is the obliquity of the ecliptic. Urhixidur05:39, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Resulting inclinations
Note: All angles in degrees. For Metis through Callisto, the orbital poles were taken directly from IAU Travaux 2001; the ascending node longitudes listed here were computed from the orbital poles (rather than computing the orbital poles from the NSES ascending node longitudes like what was done for the remaining moons).
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
Jupiter
100.55615
2.222
273.254
66.766
25.51
7.872
(3.128 to own orbit)
XVI Metis (S/1979 J 3)
(22.20)
2.222
268.05
64.49
25.51
~0
3.128
XV Adrastea (S/1979 J 1)
(22.20)
2.222
268.05
64.49
25.51
~0
3.128
V Amalthea
(28.95)
2.455
267.251
64.387
25.613
0.360
3.436
XIV Thebe (S/1979 J 2; S/1981 J 1)
(23.44)
3.121
267.201
63.669
26.331
0.901
4.000
I Io
(23.454)
2.208
267.957
64.521
25.479
0.050
3.131
II Europa
(27.605)
1.790
268.040
64.961
25.039
0.471
2.792
III Ganymede
(16.931)
2.213
268.507
64.436
25.564
0.204
3.044
IV Callisto
(22.178)
2.017
268.220
64.682
25.318
0.205
2.936
XVIII Themisto (S/1975 J 1; S/2000 J 1)
199.513
45.805
235.056
65.284
24.716
47.482
46.023
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
XIII Leda
209.504
27.585
184.311
76.780
13.220
29.010
28.033
VI Himalia
58.410
29.878
305.987
43.768
46.232
29.590
28.922
X Lysithea
2.129
27.781
271.273
38.789
51.211
25.771
28.000
VII Elara
107.630
29.196
335.517
59.282
30.718
30.663
27.901
S/2000 J 11
289.031
27.584
228.287
48.862
41.138
26.169
28.876
XLVI Carpo (S/2003 J 20)
43.140
56.001
306.098
15.807
74.193
55.098
55.305
S/2003 J 12
67.513
142.686
349.516
-55.277
145.277
142.618
141.586
XXXIV Euporie (S/2001 J 10)
73.590
144.694
342.499
-54.458
144.458
144.858
143.527
S/2003 J 3
245.760
146.363
226.904
-42.330
132.330
146.377
147.428
S/2003 J 18
181.875
147.401
268.782
-33.970
123.970
149.418
147.182
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
XLII Thelxinoe (S/2003 J 22)
193.478
151.293
261.806
-38.236
128.236
153.070
151.332
XXXIII Euanthe (S/2001 J 7)
274.523
143.409
204.933
-49.057
139.057
142.365
144.707
XLV Helike (S/2003 J 6)
105.354
154.587
311.757
-51.582
141.582
155.881
153.286
XXXV Orthosie (S/2001 J 9)
228.007
142.367
236.660
-34.339
124.339
143.069
143.148
XXIV Iocaste (S/2000 J 3)
278.154
147.249
206.254
-53.336
143.336
146.077
148.553
S/2003 J 16
27.129
150.769
346.948
-76.787
166.787
149.279
150.373
XII Ananke
38.823
150.659
359.345
-72.109
162.109
149.869
150.339
XXVII Praxidike (S/2000 J 7)
289.299
144.206
194.747
-55.193
145.193
142.701
145.496
XXII Harpalyke (S/2000 J 5)
52.240
147.224
355.950
-64.592
154.592
146.567
146.343
XXX Hermippe (S/2001 J 3)
348.757
151.242
221.919
-82.758
172.758
149.058
151.703
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
XXIX Thyone (S/2001 J 2)
255.046
147.276
221.534
-45.756
135.756
146.930
148.450
XL Mneme (S/2003 J 21)
19.934
149.326
330.629
-78.487
168.487
147.647
149.089
S/2003 J 17
308.541
162.491
221.385
-71.721
161.721
160.522
163.632
XXXI Aitne (S/2001 J 11)
29.635
165.563
303.480
-77.087
167.087
164.096
165.086
XXXVII Kale (S/2001 J 8)
75.634
165.379
306.754
-65.879
155.879
165.517
164.185
XX Taygete (S/2000 J 9)
315.603
164.890
229.449
-73.709
163.709
162.812
165.939
S/2003 J 19
45.050
164.728
311.193
-73.558
163.558
163.742
163.953
XXI Chaldene (S/2000 J 10)
151.485
167.071
280.649
-54.688
144.688
169.277
166.211
S/2003 J 15
247.341
141.813
222.955
-38.785
128.785
141.776
142.899
S/2003 J 10
172.502
163.813
273.276
-50.459
140.459
165.952
163.364
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
S/2003 J 23
64.283
148.850
343.904
-60.983
150.983
148.643
147.789
XXV Erinome (S/2000 J 4)
325.562
163.738
227.024
-76.567
166.567
161.560
164.634
XLI Aoede (S/2003 J 7)
203.960
160.482
258.298
-48.015
138.015
161.953
160.744
XLIV Kallichore (S/2003 J 11)
44.065
164.605
311.525
-73.830
163.830
163.587
163.849
XXIII Kalyke (S/2000 J 2)
60.212
165.505
308.711
-69.675
159.675
165.052
164.488
XXXII Eurydome (S/2001 J 4)
308.591
149.324
187.168
-66.303
156.303
147.368
150.471
S/2003 J 14
340.023
141.106
227.220
-71.589
161.589
138.885
141.756
XXXVIII Pasithee (S/2001 J 6)
340.421
165.759
244.510
-78.957
168.957
163.539
166.369
XLVIII Cyllene (S/2003 J 13)
262.349
140.149
211.136
-42.100
132.100
139.543
141.387
XLVII Eukelade (S/2003 J 1)
222.494
163.996
251.872
-53.232
143.232
164.816
164.648
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
S/2003 J 4
191.998
147.176
262.183
-34.062
124.062
148.992
147.186
XXXIX Hegemone (S/2003 J 8)
328.037
152.506
181.520
-75.849
165.849
150.966
154.033
XLIII Arche (S/2002 J 1)
353.519
164.587
258.004
-81.701
171.701
162.438
164.919
XI Carme
133.167
165.542
288.574
-55.134
145.134
167.529
164.427
XXVI Isonoe (S/2000 J 6)
155.102
166.324
279.684
-53.723
143.723
168.544
165.529
S/2003 J 9
67.498
164.980
309.236
-67.758
157.758
164.809
163.871
S/2003 J 5
208.033
165.550
258.707
-53.211
143.211
166.862
165.888
VIII Pasiphae
329.127
145.236
202.675
-71.512
161.512
143.037
146.087
IX Sinope
320.290
155.247
193.799
-74.010
164.010
153.120
156.237
XXXVI Sponde (S/2001 J 5)
131.426
154.373
297.567
-45.512
135.512
156.345
153.245
Object
Long. of Ascending Node
Inclination (to Ecliptic)
Orbital pole R.A.
Orbital pole Dec.
Inclination to Earth equator
Inclination to Primary's equator
Inclination to Primary's orbit
XXVIII Autonoe (S/2001 J 1)
279.865
151.058
209.709
-56.707
146.707
149.825
152.364
XVII Callirrhoe (S/1999 J 1)
290.476
140.998
190.299
-53.184
143.184
139.464
142.283
XIX Megaclite (S/2000 J 8)
310.322
150.398
187.950
-67.650
157.650
148.411
151.525
S/2003 J 2
4.694
153.521
305.237
-86.374
176.374
151.523
153.625
maui pictures
Hi there Urhixidur. I took photos of the MHPCC and the DSS when we were out at Maui. You can find them here:
The pages aren't designed to be searched for, they are designed to be navigated from the main page (List of asteroids), to each other, or from the Category:Lists of asteroids pages. The sub-pages (those that contain just 100 asteroids) should be hard to get at, to discourage vandalism. Lastly, the "X (Y-Z)" pages all exist (they are redirects), and are used by the navigation templates. If you feel a further set of redirects should exist from "X/Y-Z" (normal hyphen) to "X/Y–Z" (en-dash), feel free to create them (this is a job for a bot!). Lastly, this move was started months ago, and you should have piped up then...Now, to switch all the pages would be either a tremendous amount of drudge work for a human, or a piece of cake for a bot.
I have just proded the article Sedris for deletion. Besides the annon who created the article you are the only one to give it any significant edits, as such I though I would let you know. --T-rex20:25, 26 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No bother at all. My overarching philosophy with Wikipedia is that pages are cheap, and its better to have stubby articles than no articles at all. Deleting non-sense is one thing, deleting trivia is another, in my mind. Urhixidur20:33, 28 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Greetings, I noticed your posting in the above section of talk. Can you tell me if you were contacted by e-mail regarding that and if so under what username were you contacted? Thanks. (→Netscott)00:05, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it was an e-mail, signed Open stakes <phrog520@gmail.com>, and pointing specifically at: