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Research facility · Waimea · United States

W.M. Keck Observatory

In research, W.M. Keck Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#7,026 of 17,446 worldwide), Physics and Astronomy (#1,237 of 2,917 worldwide) and Astronomy and Astrophysics (#472 of 954 worldwide), over all time. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Physics and Astronomy (Physics and Astronomy is 23.9× its share of world research).

keckobservatory.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#17,849
of 34,923
Rank in United States
#3,717
of 7,310
Research works
655
▲ 13% vs 2018-21
Citations
17k
25.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
7.4%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.94×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
41%
world 40%
International
23%
world 18%
W.M. Keck Observatory

What is W.M. Keck 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 #7,026 of 17,446 11.6%626
Physics and AstronomyField #1,237 of 2,917 11.6%411
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #472 of 954 13.4%250
EngineeringField #6,547 of 9,532 14.1%131

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where W.M. Keck 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 W.M. Keck Observatory work in?

In 2022-now, 90% of research at W.M. Keck Observatory is in Physical Sciences, 9% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (53%), Engineering (25%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (6%). It does 2.2× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 57 fractional works · 90.0% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 34 fractional works · 53.1% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 19 fractional works · 29.1% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 8 fractional works · 12.0% of its workInstrumentation: 5 fractional works · 8.3% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 2 fractional works · 3.3% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 16 fractional works · 25.2% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 5 fractional works · 7.4% of its workAerospace Engineering: 4 fractional works · 6.2% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 3 fractional works · 4.2% of its workComputational Mechanics: 2 fractional works · 3.2% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOcean Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4 fractional works · 6.4% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 1.9% of its workGeophysics: 1 fractional works · 1.9% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workGeology: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 1 fractional works · 2.0% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workEcology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 1 fractional works · 1.7% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSpectroscopy: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 5 fractional works · 8.6% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 6.2% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 2 fractional works · 3.8% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workEducation: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workManagement Information Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workStrategy and Management: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workDecision Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workLife Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workMolecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGenetics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMedicine: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKW.M. KeckObservatory64fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences1%Physical Sciences90%Health Sciences0%Social Sciences9%

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 15 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy3453.1%
    2. Engineering1625.2%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences46.4%
    4. Environmental Science12.0%
    5. Computer Science11.7%
    6. Chemistry11.4%
    7. Materials Science00.1%
    8. Chemical Engineering00.1%
    1. Social Sciences46.2%
    2. Business, Management and Accounting11.6%
    3. Decision Sciences00.8%
    4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance00.0%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology10.9%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences00.3%
    1. Medicine00.3%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does W.M. Keck Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Physics and Astronomy takes 23.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Physics and AstronomyField · 33.8 works24×
← 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: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.16× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Chemical Engineering: 0.21× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.90× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4.07× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 1.68× its world share, 16 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.39× its world share, 1 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksMaterials SciencePhysics and Astronomy: 23.90× its world share, 34 worksPhysics and AstronomyMedicine: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksMedicineBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.49× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.81× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.49× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 23.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 15 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy23.90×34 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences4.07×4 works
  3. Engineering1.68×16 works
  4. Chemistry0.90×1 works
  5. Decision Sciences0.81×0 works
  6. Business, Management and Accounting0.49×1 works
  7. Social Sciences0.49×4 works
  8. Environmental Science0.39×1 works
  9. Computer Science0.22×1 works
  10. Chemical Engineering0.21×0 works
  11. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.16×1 works
  12. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.06×0 works
  13. Materials Science0.04×0 works
  14. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.02×0 works
  15. Medicine0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at W.M. Keck Observatory?

Ranked on the quality score, Frederic H. Chaffee, Greg Doppmann and John M. O’Meara lead among researchers whose main affiliation is W.M. Keck Observatory.

  1. 1 Frederic H. Chaffee United States · #629,994 worldwide 4.7k citations · 111 works
  2. 2 Greg Doppmann United States · #705,514 worldwide 1.2k citations · 108 works
  3. 3 John M. O’Meara United States · #710,401 worldwide 7.5k citations · 266 works
  4. 4 Jeff A. Mader United States · #903,218 worldwide 3.5k citations · 62 works
  5. 5 Gregory Doppmann United States · #984,380 worldwide 311 citations · 24 works
  6. 6 Dale Sandford United States · #1,514,579 worldwide 15k citations · 29 works
  7. 7 Robert W. Goodrich United States · #1,518,180 worldwide 5.9k citations · 161 works
  8. 8 Kyle Lanclos United States · #1,552,591 worldwide 698 citations · 48 works
  9. 9 Sylvain Cetre United States · #1,613,917 worldwide 1.4k citations · 142 works
  10. 10 Max Brodheim United States · #1,748,706 worldwide 137 citations · 36 works
All ranked researchers at W.M. Keck Observatory

What are the most cited papers from W.M. Keck Observatory?

The most cited paper from W.M. Keck Observatory is "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Technical Summary" (Donald G. York et al., 2000), with 10,547 citations. Next come "Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Early Data Release" (2,423) and "The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances" (1,315).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Technical Summary Donald G. York et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access144 authors Sep 2000 10,547
2 Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Early Data Release Chris Stoughton et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access192 authors 2002 2,423
3 The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances John L. Tonry, Alan Dressler, John P. Blakeslee et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 10 Jan 2001 1,315
4 Beaming in Gamma-Ray Bursts: Evidence for a Standard Energy Reservoir D. A. Frail, Shrinivas R. Kulkarni, R. Sari et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 20 Nov 2001 1,167
5 The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances Tonry, J L, Alan M. Dressler, Blakeslee, J P et al. Preprint 2000 811
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at W.M. Keck 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, Imaging and Laser.

▲ 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 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. Adaptive Optics7▲ 891×1 topic
  2. Wavefront Sensing7▲ 891×1 topic
  3. Astronomical Instrumentation5▲ 243×1 topic
  4. Spectrograph5▲ 243×1 topic
  5. Exoplanets4▲ 165×1 topic
  6. Stellar Astrophysics4▲ 165×1 topic
  7. Remote Sensing3▲ 4.4×6 topics
  8. Imaging3▲ 20×4 topics
  9. Laser3▲ 241×1 topic
  10. Semiconductor3▲ 14×1 topic
  11. Star Formation3▲ 79×2 topics
  12. Higher Education3▲ 7.9×3 topics
  13. Radio Astronomy2▲ 180×2 topics
  14. Gravitational Waves2▲ 65×2 topics
  15. Solar Wind2▲ 40×2 topics
  16. Black Holes2▲ 36×2 topics
  17. Nucleosynthesis2▲ 71×3 topics
  18. Accretion Disks2▲ 65×2 topics
  19. Magnetic Fields2▲ 49×2 topics
  20. Supernovae2▲ 40×2 topics
  21. Academic Freedom2▲ 724×1 topic
  22. Gamma-Ray Bursts2▲ 118×1 topic
  23. Neutron Stars2▲ 118×1 topic
  24. Political Bias2▲ 724×1 topic
  25. Structural Health Monitoring2▲ 42×2 topics
  26. Electron Acceleration2▲ 46×2 topics
  27. Optical 3D Laser Measurement2▲ 225×1 topic
  28. Position-Sensitive Detector2▲ 225×1 topic
  29. Turbulence2▲ 30×2 topics
  30. Compound Eyes2▲ 312×1 topic
  31. Freeform Optics2▲ 312×1 topic
  32. Cosmology2▲ 35×1 topic
  33. Dark Matter2▲ 21×2 topics
  34. Galaxies2▲ 81×1 topic
  35. Ionosphere2▲ 43×1 topic
  36. Magnetosphere2▲ 43×1 topic
  37. Epoch of Reionization1▲ 171×1 topic
  38. Low-Frequency Telescopes1▲ 171×1 topic
  39. Spectroscopy1▲ 13×3 topics
  40. Molecular Clouds1▲ 77×1 topic

Which research topics does W.M. Keck Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies and Optical Systems and Laser Technology.

Adaptive optics and wave…7Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing: 7 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 5 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 4 fractional worksOptical Systems and Laser Technology: 3 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 2 fractional worksAcademic Freedom and Pol…2Academic Freedom and Politics: 2 fractional worksAstronomical Observations and Instrumentation: 2 fractional worksAdvanced optical system design: 2 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 2 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 2 fractional works
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsInstrumentationAstronomy and AstrophysicsElectrical and Electronic 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 7 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 5 works
  3. 3 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  4. 4 Optical Systems and Laser Technology Electrical and Electronic Engineering 3 works
  5. 5 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  6. 6 Academic Freedom and Politics Political Science and International Relations 2 works
  7. 7 Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation Computational Mechanics 2 works
  8. 8 Advanced optical system design Biomedical Engineering 2 works
  9. 9 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  10. 10 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 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 available40.6%not open59.4%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.0%domestic only77.0%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has W.M. Keck Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 13% 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 W.M. Keck Observatory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00039% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%W.M. Keck Observatory0.000065% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of W.M. Keck 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%all institutions10.0% in 2024W.M. Keck Observatory5.1% in 202420102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 27.5% in 2014.

Other research institutions in Waimea

All research institutions in Waimea

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W.M. Keck Observatory on Science Explorer

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