Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yuji Hyakutake


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Keep The Rambling Man (talk) 20:00, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

Yuji Hyakutake

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Biography of a person famous for one event only (WP:BIO1E). His only notable discovery was Comet Hyakutake, and the other comet he found is not notable. Also, the fact that a minor planet is named after him is not notable; it is a mostly symbolic gesture which happens fairly regularly in astronomy. Astro4686 (talk) 06:08, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions.  sst  ✈  07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Japan-related deletion discussions.  sst  ✈  07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Aviation-related deletion discussions.  sst  ✈  07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.   CatcherStorm    talk   07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Japan-related deletion discussions.   CatcherStorm    talk   07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Astronomy-related deletion discussions.   CatcherStorm    talk   07:04, 11 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Redirect to Comet Hyakutake, the event for which he is known. - The Bushranger One ping only 07:11, 11 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Keep Coverage regularly notes his first comet discovery. Sources bring him up as an example of how an amateur astronomer can make a difference in the field of astronomy. His death was noted in at least two sources. I have added sources to the article. Thisisnotatest (talk) 07:39, 11 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Hi Thisisnotatest, thank you for your response. I'm still concerned about the issue of single-event notability. Although sources do identify him as an example of an amateur who made a difference, this notability still stems almost solely from his spectacular discovery of Comet Hyakutake. For example, the obituary linked to by his article describes him exclusively in relation to that discovery. I'm afraid that I don't see any notability per Wikipedia guidelines beyond that single event. While he did discover a second comet, it hasn't received significant coverage, and it's not uncommon for talented amateur astronomers to discover comets. Astro4686 (talk) 08:06, 11 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Redirect to Comet Hyakutake without prejudice against recreating the article if enough verifiable information about his other activities comes forward as to make it inappropriate to include in that article. The article can have a separate section about the discoverer (in addition to the discovery) so that information isn't lost. I see from the sources that this was definitely a notable discovery worthy of a separate article for the discoverer, but there's not enough information to make a compelling second article at present; but these are the sorts of things that can be done out of AfD; the subject's notability here is a pass/keep. -- Michael Scott Cuthbert (talk) 14:21, 12 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Comment WP:BIO1E does NOT say that people only famous for one event should not have an article. It specifically states: "If the event is highly significant, and the individual's role within it is a large one, a separate article is generally appropriate." That is why Wikipedia has articles on assassins like Sirhan Sirhan who were famous only for one event. If the issue revolves around one event, the question that must be considered here is whether Comet Hyakutake is a "highly significant" event and whether Hyakutake's "role within it is a large one." I don't see an argument being made on these terms yet. A separate question, however, is whether there is something notable about Hyakutake other than this one comet. But even if he fails on that question, he can still be notable under WP:BIO1E if the conditions I quoted hold. Michitaro (talk) 03:19, 13 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Comment Hi Michitaro, thank you for clarifying matters; I can see that I didn't really articulate the issue very well. I would argue that Mr. Hyakutake's relation to Comet Hyakutake is not sufficiently significant to merit a separate article. Although Mr. Hyakutake discovered the comet, someone else would have inevitably done so had he not. In addition, Mr. Hyakutake was not responsible for the qualities of the comet that made it notable. The comet was not notable for simply getting discovered by someone; rather, it became notable because it was very bright, widely seen by people across the world, and well studied by scientists. Mr. Hyakutake didn't have any control over these three things. By contrast, with Michitaro's example of the assassin Sirhan Sirhan, it is highly uncertain whether someone else would have eventually assassinated RFK, and as the assassin of a major political figure, Sirhan had a fundamental, indispensable role in the notability of RFK's tragic death. Astro4686 (talk) 04:01, 13 January 2016 (UTC)
 * That does seem like a reasonable argument. My sense from looking over the Japanese coverage is that the best rejoinder to your argument is his amateur status. That is, it would not have been the same if another astronomer had found it, especially a professional one. At least in Japan, the comet seemed to get extra coverage because it was discovered by an amateur, and a Japanese one at that. One obit I found for him celebrated him as a hero to amateur astronomers everywhere. I'll try to collect these together to present here, but right now I am leaning towards keep. Michitaro (talk) 23:02, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 01:36, 18 January 2016 (UTC)  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, — UY Scuti Talk  20:45, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Keep per rationale of Thisisnotatest--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 04:55, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Leaning to keep per Michitaro's sound analysis. Cavarrone 07:23, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Keep; I agree with previous 2 comments. Regards, --Klemen Kocjancic (talk) 07:30, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Keep I've seen no convincing argument for deletion. Philip72 (talk) 07:52, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Comment for closing admin This article is currently linked on the Main Page in the "On this day" entry about the comet (which is the bolded link), which is the likely explanation for the sudden flurry of !votes here. I'll defer to a more experienced user on the applicability of Speedy_keep to this case. jcgoble3 (talk) 10:32, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Never visited the Main Page in the last couple of months. Just looked at the expiring AfD and found this discussion. And I also consider myself a decently experienced user, considering my over 60,000 edits and the several thousand new articles I created. The contemptuous comment above is just a typical example of Assuming bad faith. --Cavarrone  11:44, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Keep Sorry to take so long, but I wanted to check some of the major newspapers like the Asahi and the Yomiuri, but they are behind paywalls and I needed to go to a library to do that. All had obituaries when he died (which helps in terms of WP:GNG), which stressed not only his discovery of the comet, but also that he was the head of the Starland Aira observatory at the end of his life (ja:スターランドAIRA). As I stated above, one way he is remembered is not just as the discoverer of the comet, but as an amateur who discovered the comet. Here is one obit that mentions him as the man who realized the dreams of many amateur astronomers, and another that says he might have been the most famous Japanese astronomer worldwide . What seals it for me, however, is the fact that he won an award from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment not just for discovering the comet, but mainly for his work educating the public about astronomy and the environment . I think this is strong evidence that WP:BIO1E does not apply here. Michitaro (talk) 16:20, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Keep, per Michitaro and others. – SchroCat (talk) 17:18, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.