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University · Cambridge · United States

Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

In research, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian stands highest in Astronomy and Astrophysics (#7 of 443 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#749 of 12,888 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#222 of 1,646 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Instrumentation, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics and Astronomy — Instrumentation is 241.7× its share of world research.

pweb.cfa.harvard.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,314
of 28,054 · #407 all time
Rank in United States
#216
of 4,192
Research works
13k
▼ 20% vs 2013–17
Citations
516k
39.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
66%
world 28%

What is Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian 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
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #7 of 443 15.0%799 #5
Physical SciencesDomain #749 of 12,888 12.9%1,502 #270
Physics and AstronomyField #222 of 1,646 14.8%1,082 #82
InstrumentationSubfield #4 of 10 8.1%185 #1
EngineeringField #4,918 of 6,636 2.1%318 #1611
Computational MechanicsSubfield #355 of 376 0.6%272 #490

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian 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. Astronomy and Astrophysics#5 #7
  2. Physical Sciences#270 #749
  3. Physics and Astronomy#82 #222
  4. Instrumentation#1 #4
  5. Engineering#1,611 #4,918
  6. Computational Mechanics#490 #355
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 Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Instrumentation takes 241.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. InstrumentationSubfield · 185.4 works242×
  2. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 799.2 works100×
  3. Physics and AstronomyField · 1,082.5 works32×
  4. Computational MechanicsSubfield · 272.5 works31×
  5. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 40.1 works8.3×
  6. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 26.6 works3.9×
  7. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 41.5 works3.8×
← 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: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.06× its world share, 5 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.11× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.88× its world share, 21 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.16× its world share, 19 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.46× its world share, 35 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.18× its world share, 3 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.38× its world share, 318 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.21× its world share, 16 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.07× its world share, 4 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.16× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 31.66× its world share, 1,082 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.01× its world share, 4 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.10× its world share, 4 worksArts and HumanitiesDecision Sciences: 0.19× its world share, 3 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.06× its world share, 3 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.04× its world share, 8 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 31.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian?

Ranked on the composite score, Ramesh Narayan, R. W. Noyes and Lars Hernquist lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian.

  1. 1 Ramesh Narayan United States · #4,870 worldwide 2.5k citations · 140 works
  2. 2 R. W. Noyes United States · #9,075 worldwide 1.1k citations · 101 works
  3. 3 Lars Hernquist United States · #9,166 worldwide 4.5k citations · 244 works
  4. 4 Laurence S. Rothman United States · #9,700 worldwide 1.2k citations · 70 works
  5. 5 Shy Genel United States · #11,622 worldwide 1.5k citations · 57 works
  6. 6 George B. Field United States · #14,302 worldwide 652 citations · 48 works
  7. 7 A. Dalgarno United States · #14,900 worldwide 1.6k citations · 139 works
  8. 8 Paul Torrey United States · #15,597 worldwide 1.5k citations · 54 works
  9. 9 Robert L. Kurucz United States · #16,181 worldwide 654 citations · 53 works
  10. 10 Daniel J. Eisenstein United States · #16,443 worldwide 2.7k citations · 167 works
All ranked researchers at Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

Which keywords describe research at Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Gravitational Waves, Supernovae, Nucleosynthesis, Gamma-Ray Bursts, Neutron Stars, Structural Health Monitoring, Optical 3D Laser Measurement and Position-Sensitive Detector.

▲ 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. Gravitational Waves297▲ 347×2 topics
  2. Supernovae291▲ 230×2 topics
  3. Nucleosynthesis282▲ 376×3 topics
  4. Gamma-Ray Bursts281▲ 690×1 topic
  5. Neutron Stars281▲ 690×1 topic
  6. Structural Health Monitoring272▲ 229×2 topics
  7. Optical 3D Laser Measurement272▲ 1539×1 topic
  8. Position-Sensitive Detector272▲ 1539×1 topic
  9. Astronomical Instrumentation185▲ 471×1 topic
  10. Spectrograph185▲ 471×1 topic
  11. Star Formation161▲ 200×2 topics
  12. Accretion Disks156▲ 217×2 topics
  13. Magnetic Fields156▲ 157×3 topics
  14. Solar System Abundances147▲ 197×1 topic
  15. Terrestrial Planets147▲ 197×1 topic
  16. Turbulence117▲ 87×2 topics
  17. Molecular Clouds116▲ 303×1 topic
  18. Protoplanetary Disks116▲ 303×1 topic
  19. Black Holes86▲ 59×3 topics
  20. Exoplanets75▲ 122×1 topic
  21. Stellar Astrophysics75▲ 122×1 topic
  22. Dark Matter52▲ 29×3 topics
  23. Cosmology50▲ 49×3 topics
  24. Galaxies45▲ 106×1 topic
  25. Stellar Populations45▲ 106×1 topic
  26. Galactic Center44▲ 64×2 topics
  27. X-Ray Spectroscopy39▲ 59×2 topics
  28. Event Horizon Telescope39▲ 117×1 topic
  29. X-Ray Astronomy39▲ 117×1 topic
  30. Cosmic Rays31▲ 40×2 topics
  31. Neutrinos31▲ 40×2 topics
  32. High-Energy Astrophysics26▲ 62×1 topic
  33. Particle Acceleration26▲ 62×1 topic
  34. Solar Wind25▲ 18×2 topics
  35. Radio Astronomy21▲ 60×2 topics
  36. Coronal Mass Ejections18▲ 32×1 topic
  37. Solar Dynamics Observatory18▲ 32×1 topic
  38. Ozone Depletion17▲ 38×1 topic
  39. Stratospheric Water Vapor17▲ 38×1 topic
  40. Equation of State16▲ 20×2 topics

Which research topics does Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae, Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research and Astro and Planetary Science.

Gamma-ray bursts and sup…281Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 281 fractional worksAstronomical Observation…272Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation: 272 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 185 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Scie…147Astro and Planetary Science: 147 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Fo…116Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 116 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 75 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 45 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 39 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 26 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 18 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsComputational MechanicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy Physics

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

  1. 1 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 281 works
  2. 2 Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation Computational Mechanics 272 works
  3. 3 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 185 works
  4. 4 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 147 works
  5. 5 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 116 works
  6. 6 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 75 works
  7. 7 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 45 works
  8. 8 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 39 works
  9. 9 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 26 works
  10. 10 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 18 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 available66.4%not open33.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors28.7%domestic only71.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 20% 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 Cambridge

All research institutions in Cambridge

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.