Instrumentation papers
Pofolia’s corpus holds 88 papers from Instrumentation (2012–2026), each with a short summary. Below, the 20 most-cited, then the most recently added.
At a glance
- Most cited: LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products (2019, 3,381 citations).
- The 20 papers listed have 23,160 citations between them.
- 11 of the 14 with a known journal quartile appeared in a Q1 journal.
- 11 have a free full text (open access).
- Most frequent journals: Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, arXiv (Cornell University), Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
- Published between 2012 and 2019.
Most cited
Ranked by citation count. Because citations accumulate over time, this list naturally leans towards work published a few years ago; for where the field is now, see “recently added”. How to read the signals
LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
The Astrophysical Journal · 2019 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 401.83 · 3,381 citations · Open access
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an ambitious optical survey designed to address key questions in dark energy, dark matter, solar system inventory, transient sky events, and Milky Way mapping.
The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)
Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2012 · Q2 · FWCI 53.01 · 1,704 citations · Open access
LAMOST is a novel reflecting Schmidt telescope featuring a large aperture (3.6m-4.9m) and a wide 5-degree field of view, enabled by an innovative active reflecting Schmidt configuration.
The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early Results
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · 2014 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 284.78 · 1,664 citations · Open access
The K2 mission, repurposing the Kepler spacecraft, achieves early photometric precision of ~400 ppm (30 min) and 80 ppm (6 hours) at V=12, enabling new exoplanet and astrophysics observations.
Roadmap on structured light
Journal of Optics · 2016 · FWCI 217.99 · 1,339 citations · Open access
This paper outlines the current state and future directions of structured light, which involves generating and applying custom light fields.
The DESI Experiment Part I: Science,Targeting, and Survey Design
arXiv (Cornell University) · 2016 · 1,251 citations · Open access
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will conduct a large-scale galaxy and quasar redshift survey to study dark energy by measuring baryon acoustic oscillations and structure growth.
LAMOST spectral survey — An overview
Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2012 · Q2 · FWCI 50.42 · 1,243 citations · Open access
The LAMOST telescope is nearing completion of its commissioning phase and is poised to begin a large-scale spectral survey of millions of celestial objects across the northern sky.
THE MULTI-OBJECT, FIBER-FED SPECTROGRAPHS FOR THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY AND THE BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY
The Astronomical Journal · 2013 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 170.88 · 1,058 citations
Spectrographs originally built for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) were upgraded for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), significantly enhancing their capabilities for cosmological measurements.
The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP Survey: Overview and survey design
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan · 2017 · Q2 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 184.48 · 1,049 citations
The Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) instrument on the Subaru telescope is undertaking a 300-night imaging survey of the high-latitude sky, designed to map vast areas with unprecedented depth.
Wide-Field InfrarRed Survey Telescope-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets WFIRST-AFTA 2015 Report
arXiv (Cornell University) · 2015 · 1,044 citations · Open access
This report details the 2014 Science Definition Team's plan for the WFIRST space observatory, designed to tackle dark energy, exoplanets, and astrophysics using a 2.4-m telescope.
Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: Construction, Observational Verification, and New Results
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia · 2017 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 137.75 · 942 citations
A new version 2.1 of the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) models has been released, incorporating binary mass transfer to better explain observed stellar population properties across a wide range of cosmic distances.
Modeling the Panchromatic Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2013 · Q1 · SJR 14.00 · FWCI 105.10 · 939 citations
This review outlines the stellar population synthesis (SPS) technique, a method used to deduce a galaxy's physical properties from its observed spectral energy distribution (SED). It details what can be reliably measured from galaxy SEDs.
The multi-object, fiber-fed spectrographs for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · 2012 · FWCI 86.63 · 906 citations
Spectrographs for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and its upgrade for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) have produced over 1.5 million spectra, enabling key cosmological discoveries.
Detection of 15 dB Squeezed States of Light and their Application for the Absolute Calibration of Photoelectric Quantum Efficiency
Physical Review Letters · 2016 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 168.30 · 896 citations
Researchers report the direct measurement of 15 dB squeezed states of light, a nonclassical resource, and used them to achieve an absolute calibration of photoelectric quantum efficiency.
The observed properties of dwarf galaxies in and around the Local Group
2016 · 889 citations
This paper presents a comprehensive catalog of positional, structural, and dynamical parameters for over 100 dwarf galaxies within 3 Mpc of the Sun, offering a detailed view of their diversity and environments.
Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2015 · Q1 · SJR 14.00 · FWCI 125.09 · 849 citations · Open access
Recent advancements in understanding Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) focus on the central obscuring torus and its environment, with new models involving disk winds and hydrodynamic simulations.
Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array
2015 · 834 citations · Open access
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) has progressed from concept to a developing reality, with a baselined Phase 1 design (SKA1) and construction planned from 2017, enabling significant astrophysical advancements.
UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2012 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 87.27 · 822 citations · Open access
The UltraVISTA survey has released its first data, providing ultra-deep near-infrared images and a catalog of over 216,000 sources in the COSMOS field.
How supernova feedback turns dark matter cusps into cores
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 2012 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 147.55 · 789 citations · Open access
A new analytical model explains how energetic supernova feedback from starbursts can transform dense dark matter 'cusps' into flatter 'cores' by altering the central gravitational potential.
astroquery: An Astronomical Web-querying Package in Python
The Astronomical Journal · 2019 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 85.98 · 786 citations
Astroquery is a new Python package designed to simplify data retrieval from astronomical databases, even those lacking formal APIs, by mimicking web page interfaces.
KEPLERPLANETS: A TALE OF EVAPORATION
The Astrophysical Journal · 2013 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 64.94 · 775 citations
Evaporation driven by stellar irradiation is the primary factor shaping close-in planets discovered by Kepler, capable of stripping massive hydrogen envelopes from Neptune-mass objects within 0.1 AU.
Recently added
Intrinsic alignment demographics for next-generation lensing: Revealing galaxy property trends with DESI Y1 direct measurements
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 2026 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · 2 citations · Open access
Direct measurements of intrinsic galaxy alignments (IA) for over 2 million DESI galaxies reveal that bluer galaxies show zero alignment, while redder, quenched galaxies are strongly aligned, with alignment amplitude increasing with luminosity and stellar mass.
oMEGACat. X. Shedding Light on the Disrupted Dwarf Galaxy of Omega Centauri
The Astrophysical Journal · 2026 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 14.30 · 3 citations
Omega Centauri's progenitor dwarf galaxy likely assembled partly through the inspiral and merger of globular clusters, evidenced by its primordial population's inverted U-shaped metallicity profile and inner α-enhancement.
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 power spectra, likelihoods and ΛCDM parameters
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · 2025 · FWCI 87.61 · 201 citations
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope's Data Release 6 provides cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization power spectra over 19,000 deg², with polarization noise three times lower than Planck, enabling precise measurements of cosmological parameters.
Euclid
Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2024 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 157.05 · 489 citations
The Euclid space telescope will survey 14,000 deg² of extragalactic sky with high-resolution optical and near-infrared imaging/spectroscopy to probe dark matter and dark energy.
The Early Data Release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
The Astronomical Journal · 2024 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 103.74 · 323 citations · Open access
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has publicly released spectral data from its 5-month Survey Validation, including over 1.5 million objects across various astronomical samples.
Artian LIA Neutrino Family-Rank Reference Theorem
arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024 · 383 citations · Open access
A new theorem establishes a complete minimal neutrino spectrum using a frozen mass-gap direction, an external scale anchor, and a finite source compiler, yielding a scale-free ratio of squared mass differences of 33.6969.
Overview of the Instrumentation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
The Astronomical Journal · 2022 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 97.80 · 433 citations · Open access
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has successfully deployed its novel instrumentation, including a 3.2° corrector, 5020 fiber positioners, and 10 spectrographs, to achieve its performance goals for a 5-year survey of 40 million galaxies and quasars.
A Progress Review on Solid‐State LiDAR and Nanophotonics‐Based LiDAR Sensors
Laser & Photonics Review · 2022 · Q1 · SJR 2.00 · FWCI 72.90 · 308 citations
Solid-state LiDAR, using flash, MEMS, or OPA, overcomes the reliability, size, and cost limitations of traditional mechanical scanners, with emerging nanophotonics offering further advantages for 3D sensing.
Journals in this field
The journals that publish most of this field’s papers. Quartile (Q1–Q4), SJR and h-index are from SCImago Journal Rank; “in this field” is how many of the journal’s pooled papers belong here. What is a Q1 journal? · What is the h-index?
| Journal | Quartile | SJR | h-index | In this field | Summaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomical Journal | Q1 | 1.00 | 285 | 10 | 20 |
| Astronomy and Astrophysics | Q1 | 2.00 | 378 | 6 | 25 |
| Astrophysical Journal | Q1 | 2.00 | 517 | 6 | 20 |
| Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific | Q1 | 2.00 | 189 | 4 | 7 |
| Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | Q1 | 1.00 | 414 | 4 | 15 |
| Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics | Q1 | 14.00 | 227 | 3 | 8 |
| Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series | Q1 | 3.00 | 296 | 3 | 15 |
| Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan | Q2 | 1.00 | 117 | 3 | 3 |
Every journal in Instrumentation (Q1–Q4) →
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