Talk:Star

There is a conflict between the definition of star at the head of the article and the linked article on white dwarf. The definition here (which makes nuclear fusion a prerequisite) would deny a white dwarf the status of being a star, but the linked article states unequivocally that a white dwarf is a star. The balance of this article seems to take care to avoid contradicting its own definition.

This is a tricky one to resolve. One way might be to adopt the historical approach:

Historically, the word star (or a word of which it is a translation) meant a fixed star - any one of the large number of point-like light sources visible in the night sky and sharing a single common daily apparent motion. The science of astronomy has revealed that all such stars are ...

As astronomical discoveries have been made the precise boundaries of the catgegory of stars have come into dispute, on the basis of the inferred history and the current state of particular objects. -- Alan Peakall 13:56 Feb 18, 2003 (UTC)

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I think that the section 'Nuclear fusion reaction pathways' deserve it's own article looxix 19:26 Mar 2, 2003 (UTC)