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Topic · Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Astronomical and nuclear sciences

Astronomical and nuclear sciences is a research topic within Nuclear and High Energy Physics. Science Explorer counts 15k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on nuclear masses, mass measurements of isotopes, atomic weights, and their implications for stellar metamorphosis, superheavy elements, and the periodic table. It includes research on neutron-rich nuclides, Penning trap spectrometry, and nucleosynthesis.

  • Nuclear Masses
  • Mass Measurements
  • Isotopes
  • Atomic Weights
  • Stellar Metamorphosis
  • Periodic Table
  • Superheavy Elements
  • Neutron-rich Nuclides
  • Penning Trap Spectrometry
  • Nucleosynthesis
Research works
15k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-14%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
21% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Astronomical and nuclear sciences

Which countries lead Astronomical and nuclear sciences research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (142 and 133 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 142 works
  2. 2 United States 133 works
  3. 3 India 126 works
  4. 4 Russia 64 works
  5. 5 France 51 works
  6. 6 Japan 45 works
  7. 7 Italy 39 works
  8. 8 Germany 39 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 25 works
  10. 10 Iraq 21 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 20.7%United States: 19.4%India: 18.4%Russia: 9.3%6 others listed: 32.2%21%largest
China142 · 20.7%United States133 · 19.4%India126 · 18.4%Russia64 · 9.3%6 others listed221 · 32.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Astronomical and nuclear sciences research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Astronomical and nuclear sciences research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 25 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 24 works
  3. 3 Joint Institute for Nuclear ResearchRussia 15 works
  4. 4 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 14 works
  5. 5 Michigan State UniversityUnited States 14 works
  6. 6 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 13 works
  7. 7 Peking UniversityChina 11 works
  8. 8 Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia 11 works
  9. 9 Thapar Institute of Engineering & TechnologyIndia 10 works
  10. 10 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Astronomical and nuclear sciences?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Astronomical and nuclear sciences include A. Meyer, Paul M. Thompson and A. V. Filippenko.

  1. 1 A. Meyer France 224k citations
  2. 2 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations
  3. 3 A. V. Filippenko United States 150k citations
  4. 4 Arun Kumar Germany 150k citations
  5. 5 Jonathan Mark Butterworth France 149k citations
  6. 6 David H. Weinberg United States 146k citations
  7. 7 J. Kroll France 145k citations
  8. 8 Donald P. Schneider United States 138k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Astronomical and nuclear sciences?

The most cited paper in Astronomical and nuclear sciences is "Abundances of the elements: Meteoritic and solar" (Edward Anders, N. Grevesse, 1989), with 10,547 citations. Next come "The Ame2003 atomic mass evaluation" (4,793) and "Synthesis of the Elements in Stars" (4,005).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Abundances of the elements: Meteoritic and solar Edward Anders, N. Grevesse · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 1989 10,547
2 The Ame2003 atomic mass evaluation G. Audi, A.H. Wapstra, Catherine Thibault · Nuclear Physics A Dec 2003 4,793
3 Synthesis of the Elements in Stars E. M. Burbidge, Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge, William Alfred Fowler et al. · Reviews of Modern Physics Open access Oct 1957 4,005
4 Nuclear Ground-State Masses and Deformations Peter Möller, J. Rayford Nix, W. David Myers et al. · Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables Open access Mar 1995 3,959
5 Cosmochemistry of the Rare Earth Elements: Meteorite Studies William V. Boynton · Developments in geochemistry Book chapter 1984 3,817
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Astronomical and nuclear sciences research done?

The largest centres of Astronomical and nuclear sciences research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Paris (France) and Dubna (Russia).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 47 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 27 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 19 works
  4. 4 DubnaRussia 18 works
  5. 5 DarmstadtGermany 15 works
  6. 6 East LansingUnited States 14 works
  7. 7 MumbaiIndia 14 works
  8. 8 LanzhouChina 14 works
  9. 9 ShanghaiChina 11 works
  10. 10 PatiālaIndia 11 works
See Astronomical and nuclear sciences on the map

Where is the best place to study Astronomical and nuclear sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Michigan State University, Peking University and Lomonosov Moscow State University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 11.14%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Peking UniversityMichigan State Unive…Lomonosov Moscow Sta…Thapar Institute of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Michigan State UniversityUnited States 64.213.9%22.9×14 -33.2%
2Peking UniversityChina 61.439.5%6.4×11 +12.7%
3Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia 36.81.0%15.3×11 +15.7%
4Thapar Institute of Engineering & TechnologyIndia 14.51.0%79.2×10 -30.7%
5University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 13.00.3%6.7×10 +100.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Astronomical and nuclear sciences, country by country

Is Astronomical and nuclear sciences research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 14% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2009.

still counting19801990200020102020
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 Astronomical and nuclear sciences as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0039% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Astronomical and nuclear sciences0.0032% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Astronomical and nuclear sciences 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.

still counting5%10%15%Astronomical and nuclear sciences10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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