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Research facility · Beijing · China

National Astronomical Observatories

In research, National Astronomical Observatories stands highest in Astronomy and Astrophysics (#58 of 443 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#2,011 of 12,888 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#600 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 133.1× its share of world research.

english.nao.cas.cnROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,585
of 28,054 · #3,969 all time
Rank in China
#853
of 3,058
Research works
4.7k
▲ 8% vs 2013–17
Citations
73k
15.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
56%
world 28%

What is National Astronomical 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
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #58 of 443 19.6%330 #160
Physical SciencesDomain #2,011 of 12,888 19.2%630 #2432
Physics and AstronomyField #600 of 1,646 19.8%434 #1131
EngineeringField #3,765 of 6,636 18.2%112 #3692

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where National Astronomical 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. Astronomy and Astrophysics#160 #58
  2. Physical Sciences#2,432 #2,011
  3. Physics and Astronomy#1,131 #600
  4. Engineering#3,692 #3,765
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 National Astronomical Observatories specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Instrumentation takes 133.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. InstrumentationSubfield · 43.1 works133×
  2. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 330.0 works98×
  3. Physics and AstronomyField · 433.7 works30×
  4. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 33.1 works16×
  5. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 38.4 works5.1×
← 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: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.20× its world share, 7 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Chemical Engineering: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.56× its world share, 6 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.64× its world share, 32 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.91× its world share, 30 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.15× its world share, 112 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.41× its world share, 13 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 30.09× its world share, 434 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.04× its world share, 4 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.02× its world share, 2 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 30.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at National Astronomical Observatories?

Ranked on the composite score, Chao‐Wei Tsai, Shude Mao and Xiang-Xiang Xue lead among researchers whose main affiliation is National Astronomical Observatories.

  1. 1 Chao‐Wei Tsai China · #50,482 worldwide 1.3k citations · 28 works
  2. 2 Shude Mao China · #136,908 worldwide 1.1k citations · 117 works
  3. 3 Xiang-Xiang Xue China · #182,241 worldwide 210 citations · 29 works
  4. 4 Leping Li China · #242,216 worldwide 124 citations · 24 works
  5. 5 Hong Wu China · #255,578 worldwide 331 citations · 44 works
  6. 6 Gang Zhao China · #257,189 worldwide 855 citations · 172 works
  7. 7 Licai Deng China · #306,052 worldwide 399 citations · 80 works
  8. 8 Lijun Gou China · #338,584 worldwide 170 citations · 17 works
  9. 9 Xin Ren China · #392,043 worldwide 67 citations · 29 works
  10. 10 Yongheng Zhao China · #445,640 worldwide 517 citations · 180 works
All ranked researchers at National Astronomical Observatories

Which keywords describe research at National Astronomical Observatories?

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

▲ 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 Waves66▲ 182×2 topics
  2. Black Holes59▲ 96×3 topics
  3. Star Formation59▲ 172×2 topics
  4. Exoplanets59▲ 227×1 topic
  5. Stellar Astrophysics59▲ 227×1 topic
  6. Magnetic Fields52▲ 126×3 topics
  7. Accretion Disks52▲ 172×2 topics
  8. Supernovae50▲ 93×2 topics
  9. Astronomical Instrumentation42▲ 254×1 topic
  10. Spectrograph42▲ 254×1 topic
  11. Nucleosynthesis37▲ 118×3 topics
  12. Dark Matter37▲ 49×4 topics
  13. Gamma-Ray Bursts36▲ 209×1 topic
  14. Neutron Stars36▲ 209×1 topic
  15. Cosmology35▲ 82×3 topics
  16. Solar Wind32▲ 53×2 topics
  17. Galaxies31▲ 175×1 topic
  18. Stellar Populations31▲ 175×1 topic
  19. Equation of State30▲ 86×2 topics
  20. Binary Black Hole30▲ 158×1 topic
  21. Neutron Star30▲ 158×1 topic
  22. Turbulence29▲ 51×3 topics
  23. Galactic Center28▲ 96×2 topics
  24. Solar System Abundances28▲ 88×1 topic
  25. Terrestrial Planets28▲ 88×1 topic
  26. Molecular Clouds28▲ 170×1 topic
  27. Protoplanetary Disks28▲ 170×1 topic
  28. X-Ray Spectroscopy25▲ 87×2 topics
  29. Event Horizon Telescope24▲ 174×1 topic
  30. X-Ray Astronomy24▲ 174×1 topic
  31. Coronal Mass Ejections23▲ 97×1 topic
  32. Solar Dynamics Observatory23▲ 97×1 topic
  33. Cosmic Rays21▲ 66×2 topics
  34. Neutrinos21▲ 66×2 topics
  35. Radio Astronomy21▲ 146×2 topics
  36. Epoch of Reionization20▲ 234×1 topic
  37. Low-Frequency Telescopes20▲ 234×1 topic
  38. High-Energy Astrophysics18▲ 101×1 topic
  39. Particle Acceleration18▲ 101×1 topic
  40. Structural Health Monitoring16▲ 32×2 topics

Which research topics does National Astronomical Observatories publish most on?

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

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 59 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 42 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and sup…36Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 36 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evo…31Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 31 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 30 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Science: 28 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Fo…28Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 28 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena …24Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 24 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma D…23Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 23 fractional worksRadio Astronomy Observat…20Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 20 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentation

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

  1. 1 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 59 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 42 works
  3. 3 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  4. 4 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 31 works
  5. 5 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Astronomy and Astrophysics 30 works
  6. 6 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 28 works
  7. 7 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 28 works
  8. 8 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 24 works
  9. 9 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 23 works
  10. 10 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 20 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 available56.2%not open43.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has National Astronomical Observatories's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% higher 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 Beijing

All research institutions in Beijing

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.