User talk:T.scrace

Hi! I noticed you made those changes to the planet article. I completely agree that the definition needs to apply to all planets, solar and non-solar. However, the definition listed in the introduction is an amalgamation of two definitions from the IAU. The first is the 2006 resolution that has had much coverage in the news recently, and only covers our solar system. The second is a working definition that was proposed in 2003 and has been in use by the IAU ever since, and covers only planets outside our solar system. You can see information on this working definition in the definition of planet article. Together the two definitions work together to make the universal definition listed. After much debate (see the talk page) over recent weeks it was compromised that we would not call the IAU definition "official", but we would list it in the introduction as the definition of the official body. Thanks for getting in touch! 195.137.85.173 21:32, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I can understand your concerns about the introduction. But there are a couple of problems. The first is that there was MUCH dispute on the talk page, and somewhat of an edit war from people saying the page cannot say "a planet is..." as its 'only' the IAU's definition. Others felt that it was important that the IAU's definition was official and thus deserved to be the specific definition in the introduction rather than a very vague one. The compromise was that the IAU's definition would be listed in the intro, but only as the IAU's definition.
 * Once this is accepted, the exact details of where the definition should come from is too much detail for an article introduction. It is broken down in the "definition" section which is very high up the page, and also there are two links directly listed - one to the resolution and one to the working group proposal.
 * You may have some good points about the following paragraph however. The problem is that the list of eight planets needs to be in there as that is the very sort of important information that needs to be in an intro. Most people only think of planets in our solar system as extrasolar planets are a new phenomena. However what you could do is say "in our own solar system" rather than "the solar system" which brings in a distinction and also list "and (however many) known extrasolar planets in other systems".
 * I would also back your call to have a new image in the intro. Make sure its a good one though, preferably displaying the entirety of a planet or two in space (rather than a planets surface). It should also be sufficiently large - An article as important as this deserves a prominent picture.195.137.85.173 22:40, 4 September 2006 (UTC)