Template talk:Infobox comet

(Predicted

Why does the the comet template say "(predicted)" for the next perihelion? Isn't it obvious that the next one is predicted, not observed? Saros136 (talk) 20:51, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Dimensions

Could we add a dimensions field like Template:Infobox Planet has? -- Kheider (talk) 19:12, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

 Done. My only question is should the size of the nucleus be listed inside of the Orbital characteristics or should there be a separate section for it? -- Kheider (talk) 23:35, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, that's a good point. Perhaps just throw it up in the first section instead. — Huntster (t @ c) 00:36, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Physical characteristics

Dimensions and Albedo should probably be in a separate "Physical characteristics" section as they have nothing to do with orbital characteristics. -- Kheider (talk) 14:11, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

Orbital elements not in link

The template links to as a reference for the orbital characteristics. For old comets (like C/1811 F1), but also newer ones like C/1989 (Austin) which aren't observable at the moment, this reference contains no information about the comet. In fact, it has no information for non-periodic comets discovered before 1994, and most comets discovered before 2000 are also missing. This leaves the orbital elements unsourced. I suggest to let the template point to instead which includes data for all comets. --Renerpho (talk) 08:16, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Support. I support Renerpho's proposal. — UnladenSwallow (talk) 23:57, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Proposal: unify {{infobox planet}} and {{infobox comet}} parameters as much as possible

{{infobox planet}}	{{infobox comet}}
|discovered=	|discovery_date=	Choose one standard parameter name and add it as an alias to the old name. Deprecate the old name.
|observation_arc=	|obs_arc=	Add |observation_arc= to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |obs_arc=. Deprecate |obs_arc=.
	|obs=	|obs= it too obscure. Add |observations= as an alias to |obs=, add it to {{infobox planet}}. Deprecate |obs=.
	|orbit=	The meaning of |orbit= is not explained in the documentation.
	|semiminor=	Add to {{infobox planet}}.
	|orbital_circ=	The meaning of |orbital_circ= is not explained in the documentation.
	|max_speed=	Add to {{infobox planet}}.
	|min_speed=	Add to {{infobox planet}}.
	|node=	The meaning of |node= is not explained in the documentation. Is it the longitude of ascending node? If yes, then add {{infobox planet}}'s |asc_node= as an alias to |node= and deprecate |node=.
	|peri=	The meaning of |peri= is not explained in the documentation. Is it the argument of perihelion? If yes, then add {{infobox planet}}'s |arg_peri= as an alias to |peri= and deprecate |peri=.
|tisserand=	|tjup=	It is necessary to distinguish TJ from TN (see Tisserand's parameter). Add |tisserand_jupiter= to {{infobox planet}} as an alias to |tisserand=, add it to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |tjup=. Deprecate |tisserand= and |tjup=.
|moid=	|Earth_moid=	Add |earth_moid= to {{infobox planet}} as an alias to |moid=, add it to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |Earth_moid=. Deprecate |moid= and |Earth_moid=.
|jupiter_moid=	|Jupiter_moid=	Add |jupiter_moid= to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |Jupiter_moid=. Deprecate |Jupiter_moid=.
	|last_p=	|last_p= it too obscure. Add |last_perihelion= to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |last_p=, add it to {{infobox planet}} (makes sense for distant minor planets). Deprecate |last_p=.
	|next_p=	|next_p= it too obscure. Add |next_perihelion= to {{infobox comet}} as an alias to |next_p=, add it to {{infobox planet}} (makes sense for distant minor planets). Deprecate |next_p=.
	|source=	The meaning of |source= is not explained in the documentation. Is it the reference to the source? If yes, then add {{infobox planet}}'s |discovery_ref= as an alias to |source= and deprecate |source=, add {{infobox planet}}'s |orbit_ref= and |physical_ref=.

— UnladenSwallow (talk) 23:50, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

dimensions

The dimensions parameter is not showing up on infoboxes such as 2P/Encke and needs to be fixed. -- Kheider (talk) 10:42, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Depreciated parameters?

Going through the list of pages using infobox comet with unknown parameters, I've started to notice that some parameters have been changed or apparently depreciated. There's no call-out on this on the page for the infobox. Have there been changes? FriarTuck1981 (talk) 02:47, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, for some reason, the barycentric SMA (b_semimajor) and period (b_period) no longer work when I tried to use them KyloRen2017 (talk) 00:04, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

@Nrco0e: When you made this edit in December 2022, why did you remove the b_semimajor and b_period parameters? Renerpho (talk) 09:00, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

@Renerpho: Hm, weird. I think that was back when I was revamping the article for C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein), I was trying to implement barycentric orbital elements as a global "checkable" parameter, like that (barycentric) parentheses label you see in the infoboxes for Makemake and Mani. I think I naively removed the b_semimajor and b_period parameters because I thought that they were unused and redundant after my implementation of the (barycentric) parameter. Not sure if that's what I actually thought back then, but interpreting my past actions that way seemed to make sense. Nrco0e (talk • contribs) 09:42, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

@Nrco0e: Okay, but there are quite a few comets which have only the semi-major axis and period as barycentric, and the remaining elements as heliocentric. I noticed when I edited Great Comet of 1680 today, which should use b_semimajor and b_period, but doesn't. Renerpho (talk) 09:46, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, those will need fixing. You'll hate my response, but I don't have time to fix them. You may either restore the b_semimajor and b_period parameters, or replace them with the barycentric=yes parameter that I implemented in 2022. Choose one. Nrco0e (talk • contribs) 09:52, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

Oh, that's fine, thanks -- I'll see if I get around to it later today. @KyloRen2017: I don't know what you were working on when you commented above, but do you have a preference regarding those options? Renerpho (talk) 09:57, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

@Renerpho if I remember correctly, I was working on some non-periodic comets at the time. I thought it would be useful to apply barycentric values to them directly using that parameter (b_semimajor, etc.) but since it wasn't working, I just simply stopped using it and worked around on the default non-barycentric parameters instead KyloRen2017 (talk) 14:49, 14 June 2026 (UTC)