Talk:Grus (constellation)

Grus (constellation) is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on February 21, 2015.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
February 21, 2014	Good article nominee	Listed
May 17, 2014	Featured article candidate	Promoted

Current status: Featured article

Ancient Egyptian influence

I still think the wording "The inspiration for this constellation was drawn from Ancient Egypt, where the crane symbolized a stargazer because of its high flight" is tosh. What is the source? The references given all seem to repeat each other. Given that they credit Bayer as the originator rather than Keyser and de Houtman suggests that the scholarship leaves something to be desired. Keyser and de Houtman based their constellations on exotic animals they had seen on their travels. I may do them a disservice, but I doubt they knew anything about ancient Egypt. Skeptic2 (talk) 23:18, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed (five years late...) Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 08:56, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Incidentally, I note that some editors are placing rather too much trust in the works of sources such as R.H. Allen and J. Staal, who are not always reliable. This needs watching.Skeptic2 (talk) 11:23, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are correct and we need to be careful about them. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 13:33, 19 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sources to check and add

cool stars to check out to see if unusual enough to add.....Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 13:33, 19 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

BC Gruis and also

CE Gruis AKA Grus V1

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Grus (constellation)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk · contribs) 01:48, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This article is being reviewed. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 01:48, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Items for copyedit

An alternative name for the constellation, Phoenicopterus (Latin "flamingo"), was used briefly during the early 17th century, seen in the 1605 work Cosmographiae Generalis by Paul Merula of Leiden University and a c, 1625 globe by Dutch globe maker Pieter van den Keere.

What is "a c"?

supposed to be "c." - hence circa. I can't think of an easier way to say it. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:19, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As both of these people worked with Plancius, astronomer Ian Ridpath has reported the symbolism likely came from him originally.[2]

Unclear pronoun antecedents. Does "both of these people" mean Merula and van den Keere? Does "from him" mean from Plancius?

yes- was using pronouns to reduce repetition - I thought the structure and meaning made it unambiguous... Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:19, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In Central Australia, the Arrernte and Luritja people living in on a mission in Hermannsburg viewed the sky as divided between them, east of the Milky Way representing Arrernte camps and west denoting Luritja camps.

"living in on a mission" is awkward phrasing.

typo - "in" removed Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:19, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Grus is located too far south and hence remains below the horizon for observers in the British Isles and northern United States, though can be easily seen from Florida or California.[9]

Missing word "it."

Southern California?

"it" added ...possibly southern but source says what it says :( Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:19, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Also known as Al Dhanab, it has finished fusing its core hydrogen and begun cooling and expanding,

Sentence parallel structure. Should be "has begun".

added Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 11:21, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The system is poorly known,[22] though the donor star has been calculated to be of spectral type F5V.

Consider alternative phrasing, like "poorly characterized."

poorly understood? Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 11:21, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

RZ Gruis is a nova-like binary system of apparent magnitude 12.3

"Nova-like"? Do you have a better phrasing?

I removed " nova-like" as cataclysmic variable mentioned soon afterwards Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 11:21, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The system is poorly known,[30]

Consider alternative phrasing.

not sure how that happened that it got reduplicated - already fixed Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 11:23, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

CE Gruis (also known as Grus V-1) is a faint (magnitude 18–21) star system also composed of a white dwarf and donor star, in this case the two are so close and fused into orbit facing one another.

Run-on sentence.

semi-coloned Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 11:23, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Gliese 832 is a red dwarf of spectral type M1.5V and apparent magnitude 8.66 located only 16.1 light-years distant, hence one of the nearest stars to the Solar System.

Run-on sentence.

semi-coloned Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A Jupiter-like planet with an orbital period of 9.4±0.4 years was discovered in 2008.[39]

Orbiting around what?

Gliese 832 - clarified Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Around 3000 light-years distant, it is expanding at a rate of 50 kilometres a second, one of the fastest of all planetary nebulae.[41]

One of the fastest rates of expansion?

rejigged Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

(Question only. No action necessarily needed.) Does the article as a whole follow British or U.S. spelling? Does a template need to be placed on the Talk page?

hmmm, hadn't thought of that - as an Australian I'd go with British as default, so likely that. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

NGC 7552 and 7582 are exhibiting high starburst activity, thought to have arisen because of the tidal forces from interacting.[44]

Awkward sentence. Please rework.

rejigged Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It has a fast counterrotating stellar core, and stellar shells and ripples in its outer region.[46]

...with shells and ripples...

trimmed Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

SN 2001ig, one of the two supernovas within NGC7424, was discovered in 2001 and classified as a Type IIb supernova, one that initially shows a weak hydrogen line in its spectrum, but whose H emission later becomes undetectable and is replaced by lines of oxygen, magnesium and calcium, as well as other features that resemble the spectrum of a Type Ib supernova.[citation needed]

Mixed-up tenses

rejigged Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

citation needed

now reffed Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 04:03, 21 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Appearing undisturbed in visible light, it shows signs of having undergone a collision or merger viewed at longer wavelengths,

when viewed

done Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:38, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 08:37, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Items for fact-check

Covering 366 square degrees, it ranks 45th of the 88 modern constellations in size and covers 0.916% of the night sky.[7]

Compare with 0.89% in 88 modern constellations by area. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 08:47, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I checked 88 modern constellations by area on a spreadsheet. The numbers in the table are internally consistent, with Grus 0.886% of the total solid angle which sums to very close to 4π (5 significant figures). Whether the numbers in this table are right is a different matter, of course. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 11:29, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The correct figure is 0.887%. All sources that I have checked agree, including Philip M. Bagnall, The Star Atlas Companion: What you need to know about the Constellations which was cited incorrectly in the text. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 21:48, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

whoops - fixed now. Not sure how that happened - I think I must have cut-and-pasted the text from another constellation but accidentally not changed that like I changed everything else..... Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:18, 21 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

that is very helpful Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 10:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Spot-checked references

The 15-20 references that I spot-checked looked appropriately cited. Ridpath is sufficiently notable that use of his self-published web site should be acceptable. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 21:26, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. May I note that Jim Kaler's site on Stars is also self-published but you do not choose to describe that as such. Ian 81.178.180.252 (talk) 10:07, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm, not sure as it is hosted by University of Illinois....will ask and see how we should describe it. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 10:25, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

One way or another, James B. Kaler counts as an expert in his field. Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 10:54, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

GA

Thanks for some pleasant reading! Stigmatella aurantiaca (talk) 04:23, 21 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

thanks for being thorough - all tweaks appreciated on the road to FAC...cheers, Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 04:37, 21 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Where the constellation is visible, or not

I removed some material stating the constellation is not visible from the British Isles or northern North America, but it is visible from Florida and California. It's been put back, due possibly to some problem with referencing. My question is, what is the relevance of this constellation not being visible from certain locations, or being visible from certain very specific locations? I would suggest none. We don't say that Ursa Major is not visible from New Zealand, why should we? Similarly, we should avoid this US/UK centric stuff and remove the text - I would respectfully suggest. MidnightBlue (Talk) 14:37, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The language spoken on en.wp is English, hence visibility or otherwise from an English speaking country is more significant. Also, locales are more accessible than latitudes for lay readers. Florida is obviously at the bottom of the US and it is by its latitude that it highlights to the lay reader where the constellation can be seen. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 21:13, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

And it can bee seen from the whole southern hemisphere so no need to say anything. When I write about a northern constellation there will be similar material on how far south it can be seen (if I can find it). Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 21:14, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]