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Research facility · Pasadena · United States

TMT Observatory

In research, TMT Observatory stands highest in Physics and Astronomy (#1,460 of 2,917 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#9,423 of 17,446 worldwide), over all time. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Physics and Astronomy (Physics and Astronomy is 22.9× its share of world research).

tmt.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#27,381
of 34,923
Rank in United States
#5,723
of 7,310
Research works
327
▲ 21% vs 2018-21
Citations
6.8k
20.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
4.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.00×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
44%
world 40%
International
31%
world 18%
TMT Observatory

What is TMT 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
Physics and AstronomyField #1,460 of 2,917 11.1%183
Physical SciencesDomain #9,423 of 17,446 12.7%314

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where TMT 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 TMT Observatory work in?

In 2022-now, 92% of research at TMT Observatory is in Physical Sciences, 4% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (51%), Engineering (35%), Computer Science (3%). It does 2.2× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 39 fractional works · 92.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 22 fractional works · 50.9% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 9 fractional works · 20.5% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 7 fractional works · 16.2% of its workInstrumentation: 6 fractional works · 13.6% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEngineering: 15 fractional works · 34.9% of its workAerospace Engineering: 7 fractional works · 17.2% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 2 fractional works · 4.9% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 1 fractional works · 3.2% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 2.8% of its workComputational Mechanics: 1 fractional works · 2.1% of its workOcean Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputer Science: 1 fractional works · 3.5% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 1 fractional works · 2.4% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workOceanography: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAtmospheric Science: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSpectroscopy: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 2 fractional works · 3.8% of its workDecision Sciences: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEducation: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workTransportation: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0 fractional works · 1.0% of its workManagement Information Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Sciences: 2 fractional works · 3.5% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 2.5% of its workMedical Laboratory Technology: 1 fractional works · 2.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMedicine: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workLife Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKTMT Observatory43fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences0%Physical Sciences92%Health Sciences4%Social Sciences4%

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 17 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy2250.9%
    2. Engineering1534.9%
    3. Computer Science13.5%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences11.6%
    5. Chemistry00.7%
    6. Materials Science00.7%
    7. Environmental Science00.0%
    1. Decision Sciences01.2%
    2. Social Sciences01.2%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting01.0%
    4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance00.3%
    5. Arts and Humanities00.2%
    1. Health Professions12.5%
    2. Medicine00.7%
    3. Nursing00.3%
    1. Neuroscience00.3%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does TMT Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Physics and Astronomy takes 22.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Physics and AstronomyField · 21.6 works23×
← 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.

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.16× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemistry: 0.45× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.45× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.04× its world share, 1 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 2.33× its world share, 15 worksEngineeringMaterials Science: 0.19× its world share, 0 worksMaterials SciencePhysics and Astronomy: 22.87× its world share, 22 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.97× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksMedicineNursing: 0.53× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.32× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.22× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 22.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 16 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy22.87×22 works
  2. Engineering2.33×15 works
  3. Decision Sciences1.22×0 works
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences1.04×1 works
  5. Health Professions0.97×1 works
  6. Nursing0.53×0 works
  7. Chemistry0.45×0 works
  8. Computer Science0.45×2 works
  9. Business, Management and Accounting0.32×0 works
  10. Materials Science0.19×0 works
  11. Neuroscience0.16×0 works
  12. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.12×0 works
  13. Social Sciences0.09×0 works
  14. Arts and Humanities0.07×0 works
  15. Medicine0.04×0 works
  16. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at TMT Observatory?

Ranked on the quality score, Angel C. Otarola, C. Boyer and Sebastian G. Els lead among researchers whose main affiliation is TMT Observatory.

  1. 1 Angel C. Otarola United States · #2,030,192 worldwide 816 citations · 94 works
  2. 2 C. Boyer United States · #2,718,604 worldwide 581 citations · 28 works
  3. 3 Sebastian G. Els United States · #3,290,935 worldwide 11k citations · 112 works
  4. 4 Luc Gilles United States · #3,926,153 worldwide 1.4k citations · 87 works
  5. 5 Hugh A. Thompson United States · #5,038,918 worldwide 199 citations · 42 works
  6. 6 Glen C. Cole United States · #5,124,711 worldwide 119 citations · 18 works
  7. 7 Jean-Christophe Sinquin United States · #5,236,494 worldwide 244 citations · 36 works
  8. 8 Kayla Hardie United States · #5,300,332 worldwide 28 citations · 16 works
  9. 9 Sarah Gajadhar United States · #5,377,985 worldwide 37 citations · 20 works
  10. 10 Matthias Schoeck United States · #5,563,405 worldwide 177 citations · 33 works
All ranked researchers at TMT Observatory

What are the most cited papers from TMT Observatory?

The most cited paper from TMT Observatory is "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., 2022), with 5,044 citations. Next come "The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Initial Results from Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging" (1,718) and "Spectroscopic Target Selection for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Luminous Red Galaxy Sample" (1,039).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 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
2 The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Initial Results from Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging Mauro Giavalisco et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 9 Jan 2004 1,718
3 Spectroscopic Target Selection for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Luminous Red Galaxy Sample Daniel J. Eisenstein et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access Nov 2001 1,039
4 The Chandra Deep Field North Survey. XIII. 2 Ms Point-Source Catalogs D. M. Alexander, F. E. Bauer, William Nielsen Brandt et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access 31 Jul 2003 805
5 Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Population of Normal Star-forming Galaxies at Redshifts z > 3 Charles C. Steidel, Mauro Giavalisco, Max Pettini et al. · The Astrophysical Journal May 1996 804
All 58 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at TMT Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Adaptive Optics, Wavefront Sensing, Astronomical Instrumentation, Spectrograph, Exoplanets, Stellar Astrophysics, On-Orbit Performance and Radiometric Calibration.

▲ 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 28 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 28 words, with their numbers
  1. Adaptive Optics9▲ 1624×1 topic
  2. Wavefront Sensing9▲ 1624×1 topic
  3. Astronomical Instrumentation6▲ 412×1 topic
  4. Spectrograph6▲ 412×1 topic
  5. Exoplanets3▲ 160×1 topic
  6. Stellar Astrophysics3▲ 160×1 topic
  7. On-Orbit Performance3▲ 568×1 topic
  8. Radiometric Calibration3▲ 568×1 topic
  9. Cryogenic Storage2▲ 183×1 topic
  10. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)2▲ 183×1 topic
  11. Radio Astronomy2▲ 158×2 topics
  12. CubeSat1▲ 174×1 topic
  13. small satellite1▲ 174×1 topic
  14. Epoch of Reionization1▲ 243×1 topic
  15. Low-Frequency Telescopes1▲ 243×1 topic
  16. Healthcare1▲ 2.5×3 topics
  17. Risk Assessment1▲ 4.2×2 topics
  18. Remote Sensing1▲ 2.2×2 topics
  19. Supernovae1▲ 31×2 topics
  20. Complex Adaptive Systems1▲ 80×2 topics
  21. Distributed Systems1▲ 14×1 topic
  22. Grid Computing1▲ 72×1 topic
  23. Laser1▲ 127×1 topic
  24. Maintenance1▲ 29×1 topic
  25. Medical Equipment1▲ 111×1 topic
  26. Semiconductor1▲ 7.4×1 topic
  27. System Maturity1▲ 120×1 topic
  28. Technology Readiness Levels1▲ 120×1 topic

Which research topics does TMT Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies and Calibration and Measurement Techniques.

Adaptive optics and wave…9Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing: 9 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysi…6Astronomy and Astrophysical Research: 6 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 3 fractional worksCalibration and Measurement Techniques: 3 fractional worksSpacecraft and Cryogenic…2Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies: 2 fractional worksSpacecraft Design and Technology: 1 fractional worksRadio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 1 fractional worksTechnology Assessment and Management: 1 fractional worksDistributed and Parallel Computing Systems: 1 fractional worksOptical Systems and Laser Technology: 1 fractional works
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsInstrumentationAstronomy and AstrophysicsAerospace Engineering3 others

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

  1. 1 Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 9 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 6 works
  3. 3 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  4. 4 Calibration and Measurement Techniques Aerospace Engineering 3 works
  5. 5 Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies Aerospace Engineering 2 works
  6. 6 Spacecraft Design and Technology Aerospace Engineering 1 works
  7. 7 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 1 works
  8. 8 Technology Assessment and Management Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality 1 works
  9. 9 Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems Computer Networks and Communications 1 works
  10. 10 Optical Systems and Laser Technology Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1 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 available44.1%not open55.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors31.0%domestic only69.0%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has TMT Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 21% higher 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 TMT Observatory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00035% in 2024.

still counting0.00050%0.0010%TMT Observatory0.000056% in 202519801990200020102020

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

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TMT Observatory on Science Explorer

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