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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 81k research works in it since 1950. 25.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics in stellar astrophysics, including the study of exoplanets, galactic evolution, stellar and planetary system formation, and the exploration of the Milky Way. It encompasses research on massive stars, planetary systems around different types of stars, and the utilization of data from missions like Gaia and Kepler for understanding the properties and dynamics of celestial objects.

  • Stellar Astrophysics
  • Exoplanets
  • Galactic Evolution
  • Stellar Evolution
  • Milky Way
  • Gaia Mission
  • Planetary Systems
  • Massive Stars
  • Astronomical Surveys
  • Astrophysical Spectroscopy
Research works
81k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
21k
per year above
Top-10% rate
25.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+0%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2.3k and 778 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 2.3k works
  2. 2 China 778 works
  3. 3 France 664 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 505 works
  5. 5 Germany 457 works
  6. 6 Russia 447 works
  7. 7 Italy 370 works
  8. 8 Spain 300 works
  9. 9 Japan 281 works
  10. 10 India 260 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: 35.7%China: 12.3%France: 10.5%United Kingdom: 8.0%6 others listed: 33.5%36%largest
United States2,258 · 35.7%China778 · 12.3%France664 · 10.5%United Kingdom505 · 8.0%6 others listed2,115 · 33.5%

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

Which institutions lead Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 111 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 87 works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 79 works
  4. 4 Center for Astrophysics Harvard & SmithsonianUnited States 75 works
  5. 5 Institute of AstronomyRussia 71 works
  6. 6 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 70 works
  7. 7 University of ArizonaUnited States 70 works
  8. 8 Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia 69 works
  9. 9 Max Planck Institute for AstronomyGermany 62 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 60 works

Who are the leading researchers in Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies include P. Jackson, E. L. Wright and Licia Verde.

  1. 1 P. Jackson United Kingdom 10k citations
  2. 2 E. L. Wright United States 9.3k citations
  3. 3 Licia Verde Spain 8.2k citations
  4. 4 David N. Spergel United States 7.9k citations
  5. 5 C. L. Bennett United States 7.4k citations
  6. 6 Edward J. Wollack United States 7.2k citations
  7. 7 G. Hinshaw United States 7.1k citations
  8. 8 M. Halpern Canada 7k citations
  9. 9 S. P. Ahlen United States 6.6k citations
  10. 10 Eiichiro Komatsu Germany 6.6k citations

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

Where is Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research done?

The largest centres of Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Paris (France), Moscow (Russia) and Pasadena (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Nizhniy Arkhyz, Kežmarok and Ondřejov.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 343 works
  2. 2 Paris France 310 works
  3. 3 Moscow Russia 215 works
  4. 4 Pasadena United States 157 works
  5. 5 Tucson United States 131 works
  6. 6 Cambridge United States 130 works
  7. 7 Heidelberg Germany 118 works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 102 works
  9. 9 Saint Petersburg Russia 100 works
  10. 10 Baltimore United States 95 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Nizhniy ArkhyzRU · 55.3 works408×
  2. KežmarokSK · 23.2 works311×
  3. OndřejovCZ · 20.6 works296×
  4. Mitaka-shiJP · 43.5 works243×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies than the world average.

See Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Leiden University and California Institute of Technology 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 35.13%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté: 27, 38.3%Leiden University: 46, 34.5%California Institute of Technology: 70, 35.0%Heidelberg University: 45, 37.1%University of Geneva: 39, 35.9%Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian: 75, 30.8%University of Arizona: 70, 31.9%Princeton University: 40, 39.0%University of Cambridge: 55, 40.3%University of Warwick: 34, 28.5%Université Bourgogne…Heidelberg UniversityCalifornia Institute…Leiden University
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 Université Bourgogne Franche-ComtéFrance 71.038.3%33.1×27 +47.4%
2 Leiden UniversityNetherlands 66.434.5%16.8×46 +36.8%
3 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 66.135.0%36.4×70 -8.0%
4 Heidelberg UniversityGermany 65.737.1%10.7×45 +1.9%
5 University of GenevaSwitzerland 65.635.9%14.3×39 +21.4%
6 Center for Astrophysics Harvard & SmithsonianUnited States 64.430.8%122.4×75 +3.2%
7 University of ArizonaUnited States 64.431.9%13.5×70 +14.0%
8 Princeton UniversityUnited States 64.339.0%11.3×40 +6.4%
9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 62.540.3%6.2×55 +60.8%
10 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 62.328.5%9.4×34 +95.1%

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 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 0% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2016. The fastest-growing topics are Stellar, planetary, and galactic 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.