Template talk:Starbox begin

Template:Starbox observe 3s

I have rewritten {{Starbox observe 3s}} to simply call {{Starbox observe 1s}} three times. I have tested it against most of the stars that use the template. There are two changes of note: there is a default value for the epoch field, J2000.0, although all of the users of the template currently specify the epoch; the default value for equinox changes from the value in the epoch field to ICRS. The equinox change affects a number of articles, but in all cases ICRS is actually the correct equinox, and it will be the correct equinox for almost every other starbox.

Working correctly when the various required fields are specified is very simple, but forcing the template to display the expected {{{fieldname}}} text when a required field is either missing or is empty, as well as at the top of the template page, uses a messy boilerplate expression for many fields, with an #if directive and noinclude and nowiki tags. The alternative is that some required fields would just display empty and might not be noticed as an error by editors. Or maybe someone can improve the template code?

{{Starbox observe 2s}} can also be converted to simply use {{Starbox observe 1s}} twice, and I've written {{Starbox observe 2s/sandbox}} to do this. I'll let this sit for a while to shake out any obvious problems, then promote the sandbox. There are less than 50 uses of {{Starbox observe 3s}} but several hundred for {{Starbox observe 2s}}. Lithopsian (talk) 19:03, 6 May 2026 (UTC) Lithopsian (talk) 19:03, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

I've tested a significant fraction of the articles using {{starbox observe 2s}} against the sandbox and they all seem OK. Perhaps not surprising since real-world calls to the template are all rather similar, with the required fields all provided. Very few uses of the special epoch string, but see HD 130458 for an example which works fine with the sandbox template. Note that Kappa Tauri and Mu Crucis currently display a blank equinox because they have the equinox field in the starbox with no value specified; these will work fine with the sandbox version (ie. starbox observe s2 calling starbox observe 1s twice). Lithopsian (talk) 20:03, 8 May 2026 (UTC)

I've converted {{starbox observe 2s}} to simply be two calls to {{starbox observe 1s}}. I had a quick run though the articles that use this template and nothing jumped out as being broken. Lithopsian (talk) 15:57, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

"Starbox image" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Starbox image has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 July 1 § Starbox image until a consensus is reached. Gonnym (talk) 10:36, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

"Starbox begin" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Starbox begin has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 July 1 § Starbox begin until a consensus is reached. Gonnym (talk) 10:36, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

Redirect to Template:Starbox observe 1s?

{{Starbox observe 2s}} and {{Starbox observe 3s}} have been simple wrappers for {{Starbox observe 1s}} for over a month now. These, together with some direct uses, account for about 400 articles. Not one complaint or query, so I'd say it is working OK. Is it now time to redirect {{Starbox observe}} to {{Starbox observe 1s}} so we just have one codebase to deal with? Or do some swapping so {{Starbox observe 1s}} is the redirect? That would also need edits to {{Starbox observe 2s}} and {{Starbox observe 3s}}, but they are trivial. Lithopsian (talk) 19:13, 1 July 2026 (UTC)

If a straight redirect won't break anything major, I'd say just go for it; I highly doubt there will be any complaint but I also have a feeling that if anyone were to have issue, it would only be after the changes are made. Primefac (talk) 05:46, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

In the interests of full disclosure, and to have this all in one place if anyone has questions, there are functional differences between {t|starbox observe}} and {{starbox observe 1s}}:

• {{starbox observe 1s}} supports a no_heading field, which suppresses the yellow banner when it has a value
• {{starbox observe 1s}} now supports the component1 field, mandatory if no_heading=y is used, otherwise optional
• the epoch field is now optional and has a default value of "J2000.0"
• the default value for equinox is now ICRS instead of the value of the epoch field
• when the epoch field is set to the special value of "[[J2000.0]] ([[International Celestial Reference System|ICRS]])", {{starbox observe 1s}} displays the equinox as ICRS where {{starbox observe}} displayed the equinox as J2000.0 (ICRS) - the epoch is still displayed as J2000.0

Only the last two changes should affect (many, although not all) existing articles. See recent and not-so-recent archived discussions of this topic (and International Celestial Reference System and its realizations for gory details): ICRS is correct for probably all articles where this is the case, while the J2000.0 currently displayed is not correct. Lithopsian (talk) 15:07, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

Here is an incomplete (but enough to show it works) list of pages already using {{Starbox observe 1s}} for one reason or another, in addition to all the {{Starbox observe 2s}} and {{Starbox observe 3s}} articles:

• PSR B1931+24, display default epoch and equinox
• HD 5408, more than 3 components
• NGC 730, display default epoch and equinox
• Nu Scorpii, more than 3 components
• AR Cassiopeiae, more than 3 components
• Sigma Orionis, more than 3 components
• Mu Sagittarii, display component designation for one star

Lithopsian (talk) 15:26, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

Edit request 2 July 2026

Replace the entire template with a redirect to {{Starbox observe 1s}}. See previous discussion section for background. {{Starbox observe 1s}} should probably be protected consistent with this template.

Diff:

−

***everything***

+

#REDIRECT [[Template:Starbox observe 1s]]

Lithopsian (talk) 18:07, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

 Done I have created the redirect, but I would prefer to keep the template at Template:Starbox observe because that's got all the history in it. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:45, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

I have no problem with {{Starbox observe 1s}} being the redirect and {{Starbox observe}} being where the code actually is. Lithopsian (talk) 18:31, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Okay, that's done and history merged — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 22:16, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Unit for surface gravity requires correction or elaboration.

• Template:Starbox detail

Surface gravity is given in units of "cgs". Currently that links to the article on the centimetre-gram-second system of units, which does not appear to make any sense in context. Why would any aspect of a planetary or stellar object be quantified in centimeters and grams? ~2026-31385-08 (talk) 00:09, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Third paragraph of the lead of surface gravity explains it. I suppose we could link to the #History section of cgs in the infobox, since it mentions its use for astrophysics. Primefac (talk) 11:39, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Also the Units section of WP:ASTROSTYLE. Praemonitus (talk) 13:51, 1 August 2026 (UTC)