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Research facility · Sydney · Australia

Australian Astronomical Observatory

In research, Australian Astronomical Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#4,906 of 17,446 worldwide), Physics and Astronomy (#896 of 2,917 worldwide) and Astronomy and Astrophysics (#361 of 954 worldwide), over all time. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Physical Sciences (Physical Sciences is 2.2× its share of world research).

aao.gov.auROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#9,536
of 34,923
Rank in Australia
#164
of 476
Research works
1.2k
▼ 53% vs 2018-21
Citations
37k
31.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
12.0%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.34×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
58%
world 40%
International
48%
world 18%
Australian Astronomical Observatory

What is Australian Astronomical Observatory known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Physical SciencesDomain #4,906 of 17,446 11.7%1,111
Physics and AstronomyField #896 of 2,917 11.9%882
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #361 of 954 12.4%572
EngineeringField #6,224 of 9,532 12.0%144
InstrumentationSubfield #91 of 121 10.1%187

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Australian Astronomical Observatory sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Australian Astronomical Observatory work in?

In 2022-now, 88% of research at Australian Astronomical Observatory is in Physical Sciences, 7% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (65%), Engineering (13%), Computer Science (7%). It does 2.0× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 26 fractional works · 87.8% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 19 fractional works · 64.7% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 12 fractional works · 40.0% of its workInstrumentation: 5 fractional works · 15.9% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 2 fractional works · 5.1% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 1 fractional works · 3.4% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEngineering: 4 fractional works · 12.8% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 1 fractional works · 4.0% of its workComputational Mechanics: 1 fractional works · 2.9% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 2.8% of its workAerospace Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.8% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMechanical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Science: 2 fractional works · 6.6% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 3.0% of its workInformation Systems: 1 fractional works · 2.0% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHardware and Architecture: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 0 fractional works · 1.5% of its workEcology: 0 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSpectroscopy: 0 fractional works · 1.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOceanography: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAtmospheric Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSocial Sciences: 2 fractional works · 7.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 1 fractional works · 3.1% of its workAnthropology: 0 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSafety Research: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGeneral Social Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 2.2% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 1 fractional works · 2.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 1.1% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 0 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workClinical Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Sciences: 1 fractional works · 2.6% of its workHealth Professions: 0 fractional works · 1.6% of its workRadiological and Ultrasound Technology: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOccupational Therapy: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMedicine: 0 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workVeterinary: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 1 fractional works · 2.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 1.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workBiophysics: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPlant Science: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workToxicology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workALL ITS WORKAustralianAstronomical…30fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences2%Physical Sciences88%Health Sciences3%Social Sciences7%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 19 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy1964.7%
    2. Engineering412.8%
    3. Computer Science26.6%
    4. Environmental Science01.5%
    5. Chemistry01.1%
    6. Earth and Planetary Sciences00.6%
    7. Materials Science00.5%
    1. Social Sciences13.1%
    2. Decision Sciences12.2%
    3. Arts and Humanities01.1%
    4. Psychology00.7%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting00.2%
    1. Health Professions01.6%
    2. Medicine00.9%
    3. Veterinary00.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology01.3%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences00.4%
    3. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.4%
    4. Neuroscience00.2%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Australian Astronomical Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Physical Sciences takes 2.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Physical SciencesDomain · 26.4 works2.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.24× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.05× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.68× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.84× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.38× its world share, 0 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 0.86× its world share, 4 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.31× its world share, 0 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.16× its world share, 0 worksMaterials SciencePhysics and Astronomy: 29.07× its world share, 19 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.62× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksMedicineVeterinary: 0.58× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.38× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.29× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.24× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 29.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 19 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy29.07×19 works
  2. Decision Sciences2.29×1 works
  3. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics1.05×0 works
  4. Engineering0.86×4 works
  5. Computer Science0.84×2 works
  6. Chemistry0.68×0 works
  7. Health Professions0.62×0 works
  8. Veterinary0.58×0 works
  9. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.38×0 works
  10. Arts and Humanities0.38×0 works
  11. Environmental Science0.31×0 works
  12. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.24×0 works
  13. Psychology0.24×0 works
  14. Social Sciences0.24×1 works
  15. Materials Science0.16×0 works
  16. Neuroscience0.11×0 works
  17. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.09×0 works
  18. Business, Management and Accounting0.07×0 works
  19. Medicine0.05×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Australian Astronomical Observatory?

Ranked on the quality score, Anthony J. Horton, J. Liske and Christopher E. Lidman lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Australian Astronomical Observatory.

  1. 1 Anthony J. Horton Australia · #181,875 worldwide 17k citations · 149 works
  2. 2 J. Liske Australia · #194,237 worldwide 16k citations · 256 works
  3. 3 Christopher E. Lidman Australia · #212,593 worldwide 59k citations · 630 works
  4. 4 Sarah Brough Australia · #400,633 worldwide 22k citations · 408 works
  5. 5 Ángel R López-Sánchez Australia · #430,533 worldwide 17k citations · 319 works
  6. 6 Kevin A. Pimbblet Australia · #514,891 worldwide 15k citations · 249 works
  7. 7 Russell Cannon Australia · #543,823 worldwide 17k citations · 155 works
  8. 8 S. D. Ryder Australia · #668,519 worldwide 9.8k citations · 445 works
  9. 9 M. A. Lara-López Australia · #669,697 worldwide 5.2k citations · 154 works
  10. 10 Terry Bridges Australia · #695,161 worldwide 8.2k citations · 55 works
All ranked researchers at Australian Astronomical Observatory

What are the most cited papers from Australian Astronomical Observatory?

The most cited paper from Australian Astronomical Observatory is "Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High‐Redshift Supernovae" (S. Perlmutter et al., 1999), with 18,225 citations. Next come "The Astropy Project: Building an Open-science Project and Status of the v2.0 Core Package *" (7,690) and "The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package*" (5,044).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High‐Redshift Supernovae S. Perlmutter et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access Jun 1999 18,225
2 The Astropy Project: Building an Open-science Project and Status of the v2.0 Core Package * Adrian M. Price-Whelan et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access140 authors 23 Aug 2018 7,690
3 The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package* The Astropy Collaboration et al. · Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Open access136 authors 2022 5,044
4 The 6dF Galaxy Survey: baryon acoustic oscillations and the local Hubble constant Florian Beutler, Chris Blake, Matthew Colless et al. · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Open access 25 Jul 2011 2,649
5 The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: spectra and redshifts Matthew Colless et al. · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Open access Dec 2001 2,378
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Australian Astronomical Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Astronomical Instrumentation, Spectrograph, Star Formation, Black Holes, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 21 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 21 words, with their numbers
  1. Astronomical Instrumentation5▲ 491×1 topic
  2. Spectrograph5▲ 491×1 topic
  3. Star Formation5▲ 270×2 topics
  4. Black Holes4▲ 134×2 topics
  5. Cosmology4▲ 172×2 topics
  6. Dark Matter4▲ 101×3 topics
  7. Exoplanets4▲ 289×1 topic
  8. Stellar Astrophysics4▲ 289×1 topic
  9. Galaxies3▲ 388×1 topic
  10. Stellar Populations3▲ 388×1 topic
  11. Gravitational Waves2▲ 114×2 topics
  12. Supernovae2▲ 79×2 topics
  13. Accretion Disks2▲ 112×2 topics
  14. Gamma-Ray Bursts2▲ 207×1 topic
  15. Machine Learning2▲ 1.71×10 topics
  16. Magnetic Fields2▲ 84×2 topics
  17. Neutron Stars2▲ 207×1 topic
  18. Adaptive Optics1▲ 332×1 topic
  19. Wavefront Sensing1▲ 332×1 topic
  20. Molecular Clouds1▲ 144×1 topic
  21. Protoplanetary Disks1▲ 144×1 topic

Which research topics does Australian Astronomical Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena and Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae.

Astronomy and Astrophysi…5Astronomy and Astrophysical Research: 5 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 4 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 3 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 2 fractional worksAdaptive optics and wavefront sensing: 1 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Fo…1Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 1 fractional worksAstronomical Observations and Instrumentation: 1 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 1 fractional worksScientific Computing and Data Management: 1 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 0 fractional works
InstrumentationAstronomy and AstrophysicsAtomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsComputational Mechanics2 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 5 works
  2. 2 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  3. 3 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  4. 4 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  5. 5 Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 1 works
  6. 6 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 1 works
  7. 7 Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation Computational Mechanics 1 works
  8. 8 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 1 works
  9. 9 Scientific Computing and Data Management Information Systems and Management 1 works
  10. 10 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 0 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available58.1%not open41.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors47.7%domestic only52.3%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Australian Astronomical Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 53% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Australian Astronomical Observatory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00015% in 2024.

still counting0.0025%0.0050%0.0075%Australian Astronomical Observatory0.000057% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Australian Astronomical Observatory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

10%20%30%Australian Astronomical Observatory10.3% in 2018all institutions10.0% in 201820002010

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 21.2% in 2001.

Other research institutions in Sydney

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Australian Astronomical Observatory on Science Explorer

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