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Research facility · Pasadena · United States

Carnegie Observatories

In research, Carnegie Observatories stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,814 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#151 of 443 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#817 of 1,646 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics and Astronomy and Physical Sciences — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 113.5× its share of world research.

obs.carnegiescience.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,026
of 28,054 · #1,183 all time
Rank in United States
#697
of 4,192
Research works
2.2k
▼ 30% vs 2013–17
Citations
163k
73.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
47.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
56%
world 28%

What is Carnegie Observatories known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #2,814 of 12,888 48.0%100 #873
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #151 of 443 49.9%62 #49
Physics and AstronomyField #817 of 1,646 49.0%89 #372

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Carnegie Observatories 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 world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#873 #2,814
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#49 #151
  3. Physics and Astronomy#372 #817
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Carnegie Observatories specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 113.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 62.5 works114×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 89.4 works38×
  3. Physical SciencesDomain · 100.1 works2.4×
← 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: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.27× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.45× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemistry: 0.37× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.27× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.30× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.26× its world share, 4 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.39× its world share, 2 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.22× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 37.96× its world share, 89 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksMedicineDecision Sciences: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.15× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.04× 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, 38.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Carnegie Observatories?

Ranked on the composite score, Alan Dressler, Andrew Benson and Jesse L. Greenstein lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Carnegie Observatories.

  1. 1 Alan Dressler · #6,426 worldwide 2.3k citations · 120 works
  2. 2 Andrew Benson · #14,974 worldwide 961 citations · 82 works
  3. 3 Jesse L. Greenstein · #29,706 worldwide 788 citations · 105 works
  4. 4 Allan Sandage · #31,466 worldwide 1k citations · 121 works
  5. 5 Joshua D. Simon · #35,940 worldwide 966 citations · 80 works
  6. 6 R. J. Weymann · #36,792 worldwide 709 citations · 68 works
  7. 7 Barry F. Madore · #51,055 worldwide 1.5k citations · 161 works
  8. 8 Mark Seibert · #52,947 worldwide 502 citations · 35 works
  9. 9 Stephen A. Shectman · #58,363 worldwide 677 citations · 89 works
  10. 10 Anthony L. Piro · #61,231 worldwide 601 citations · 63 works
All ranked researchers at Carnegie Observatories

Which keywords describe research at Carnegie Observatories?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Star Formation, Dark Matter, Black Holes, Cosmology, Exoplanets, Stellar Astrophysics, Supernovae and Gravitational Waves.

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

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 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 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Star Formation21▲ 377×2 topics
  2. Dark Matter17▲ 141×3 topics
  3. Black Holes17▲ 166×3 topics
  4. Cosmology17▲ 237×2 topics
  5. Exoplanets17▲ 393×1 topic
  6. Stellar Astrophysics17▲ 393×1 topic
  7. Supernovae14▲ 161×2 topics
  8. Gravitational Waves13▲ 227×2 topics
  9. Galaxies13▲ 455×1 topic
  10. Stellar Populations13▲ 455×1 topic
  11. Astronomical Instrumentation13▲ 483×1 topic
  12. Spectrograph13▲ 483×1 topic
  13. Accretion Disks11▲ 221×2 topics
  14. Magnetic Fields11▲ 160×2 topics
  15. Nucleosynthesis11▲ 210×3 topics
  16. Gamma-Ray Bursts10▲ 365×1 topic
  17. Neutron Stars10▲ 365×1 topic
  18. Molecular Clouds8▲ 292×1 topic
  19. Protoplanetary Disks8▲ 292×1 topic
  20. Cosmic Rays7▲ 126×2 topics
  21. Neutrinos7▲ 126×2 topics
  22. Galactic Center7▲ 139×2 topics
  23. Particle Physics4▲ 49×2 topics
  24. Cosmological Parameters4▲ 64×1 topic
  25. Dark Energy4▲ 55×1 topic
  26. Axions3▲ 138×1 topic
  27. WIMPs3▲ 138×1 topic
  28. High-Energy Astrophysics3▲ 116×1 topic
  29. Particle Acceleration3▲ 116×1 topic
  30. Event Horizon Telescope3▲ 140×1 topic
  31. X-Ray Astronomy3▲ 140×1 topic
  32. Binary Black Hole3▲ 101×1 topic
  33. Neutron Star3▲ 101×1 topic
  34. Solar System Abundances3▲ 53×1 topic
  35. Terrestrial Planets3▲ 53×1 topic
  36. Adaptive Optics3▲ 196×1 topic
  37. Wavefront Sensing3▲ 196×1 topic
  38. Optical 3D Laser Measurement2▲ 133×1 topic
  39. Position-Sensitive Detector2▲ 133×1 topic
  40. Spectroscopy1▲ 7.0×5 topics

Which research topics does Carnegie Observatories publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research and Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae.

Stellar, planetary, and …17Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 17 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 13 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 13 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and sup…10Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 10 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Fo…8Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 8 fractional worksCosmology and Gravitation Theories: 4 fractional worksDark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena: 3 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 3 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 3 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 3 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy Physics

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

  1. 1 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studiesAstronomy and Astrophysics 17 works
  2. 2 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaAstronomy and Astrophysics 13 works
  3. 3 Astronomy and Astrophysical ResearchInstrumentation 13 works
  4. 4 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovaeAstronomy and Astrophysics 10 works
  5. 5 Astrophysics and Star Formation StudiesAstronomy and Astrophysics 8 works
  6. 6 Cosmology and Gravitation TheoriesAstronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  7. 7 Dark Matter and Cosmic PhenomenaNuclear and High Energy Physics 3 works
  8. 8 Astrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaNuclear and High Energy Physics 3 works
  9. 9 Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsAstronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  10. 10 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves ResearchAstronomy and Astrophysics 3 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 available55.7%not open44.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors32.4%domestic only67.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Carnegie Observatories's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 30% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Pasadena

All research institutions in Pasadena

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.