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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Historical Astronomy and Related Studies

Historical Astronomy and Related Studies is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1950. 7.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores ancient astronomy, mathematical instruments, and their cultural, historical, and scientific significance. It covers topics such as the Antikythera Mechanism, Greek astronomy, Islamic influence on science, ancient constellations, eclipse prediction, astrolabes, archeoastronomy, and ancient geographical knowledge.

  • Antikythera Mechanism
  • Astronomical Calculator
  • Greek Astronomy
  • Islamic Influence
  • Ancient Constellations
  • Historical Astronomy
  • Astrolabes
  • Eclipse Prediction
  • Archeoastronomy
  • Ancient Geographical Knowledge
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
789
per year above
Top-10% rate
7.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+12%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research?

By volume, the United States and Indonesia publish the most (273 and 147 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 273 works
  2. 2 Indonesia 147 works
  3. 3 Italy 119 works
  4. 4 India 91 works
  5. 5 France 85 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 78 works
  7. 7 Germany 76 works
  8. 8 Russia 59 works
  9. 9 China 49 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 48 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.

United States: 26.6%Indonesia: 14.3%Italy: 11.6%India: 8.9%6 others listed: 38.5%27%largest
United States273 · 26.6%Indonesia147 · 14.3%Italy119 · 11.6%India91 · 8.9%6 others listed395 · 38.5%

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

Which institutions lead Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Ca' Foscari University of Venice publishes the most Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research, followed by Walisongo State Islamic University and UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 34 works
  2. 2 Walisongo State Islamic UniversityIndonesia 27 works
  3. 3 UIN Sunan Ampel SurabayaIndonesia 13 works
  4. 4 University of MilanItaly 11 works
  5. 5 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 11 works
  6. 6 University of Hong KongHong Kong 11 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 8 works
  8. 8 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 7 works
  9. 9 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 7 works
  10. 10 Vels UniversityIndia 6 works

Who are the leading researchers in Historical Astronomy and Related Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Historical Astronomy and Related Studies include S. Stern and D. Thomas.

  1. 1 S. Stern Poland 4k citations
  2. 2 D. Thomas United Kingdom 3.1k citations

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

Where is Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research done?

The largest centres of Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Venice (Italy), Semarang (Indonesia) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Venice and Semarang.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 42 works
  2. 2 Venice Italy 35 works
  3. 3 Semarang Indonesia 30 works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 20 works
  5. 5 Moscow Russia 20 works
  6. 6 Beijing China 19 works
  7. 7 Milan Italy 17 works
  8. 8 Rome Italy 17 works
  9. 9 Surabaya Indonesia 15 works
  10. 10 Bengaluru India 15 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VeniceIT · 35.3 works69×
  2. SemarangID · 29.7 works5.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Historical Astronomy and Related Studies than the world average.

See Historical Astronomy and Related Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Historical Astronomy and Related Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Walisongo State Islamic University, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu 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%5%10%mean 2.61667%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Walisongo State Islamic University: 27, 1.5%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 34, 1.0%Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu: 11, 7.6%UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya: 13, 2.6%University of Hong Kong: 11, 0.0%University of Milan: 11, 3.0%Institut Agama Islam…UIN Sunan Ampel Sura…Walisongo State Isla…Ca' Foscari Universi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Walisongo State Islamic UniversityIndonesia 62.41.5%104.7×27 +601.9%
2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 57.31.0%90.5×34 —
3 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 45.07.6%5.0×11 +359.1%
4 UIN Sunan Ampel SurabayaIndonesia 44.02.6%25.4×13 —
5 University of Hong KongHong Kong 41.60.0%8.3×11 +628.6%
6 University of MilanItaly 41.33.0%11.2×11 +33.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Historical Astronomy and Related Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 12% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Historical Astronomy and Related Studies.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

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.