ABS: Benn, Scientific impact of large telescopes

[Gretchen Whitney]

C.R. Benn:    crb at ing.iaces

TITLE           Scientific impact of large telescopes
AUTHOR  Benn CR, Sanchez SF
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
                               113 (781): 385-396 MAR 2001

 Document type: Article     Language: English    Cited References: 31
Times Cited: 0


Abstract:
The scientific impacts of telescopes worldwide have been compared on the
basis of their contributions to (a) the 1000 most-cited astronomy
papers published 1991-1998 (125 from each year) and (b) the 452 astronomy
papers published in Nature during 1989-1998. Ground-based
telescopes of the 1 and 2 m class account for approximate to5% of the
citations to the top-cited papers; 4 m telescopes, 10%; Keck I/II, 4%;
submillimeter and radio telescopes, 4%; HST, 8%; and other space telescopes,
23%. The remaining citations are mainly to theoretical and review
papers. The strong showing by 1 and 2 m telescopes in the 1990s augurs well
for the continued scientific impact of 4 m telescopes in the era of 8
m telescopes. The impact of individual ground-based optical telescopes is
proportional to collecting area (and approximately proportional to
capital cost). The impacts of the various 4 m telescopes are similar, with
the CFHT leading in citation counts and WHT in Nature papers. HST
has about 15 times the citation impact of a 4 m ground-based telescope but
costs more than 100 times as much. Citation counts are proportional
to counts of papers published in Nature, but for radio telescopes the ratio
is a factor of similar to3 smaller than for optical telescopes, highlighting
the danger of using either metric alone to compare the impacts of different
types of telescope. Breakdowns of citation counts by subject (52%
extragalactic) and journal (ApJ 44%, Nature 11%, MNRAS 9%, A&A 6%) are also
presented.

KeyWords Plus:
OPTICAL TELESCOPES, CITATIONS, ASTRONOMERS, PATTERNS, GROWTH, STAR

Addresses:
Benn CR, Isaac Newton Grp, Apartado 321, E-38700 Santa Cruz De La Palma,
Spain
Isaac Newton Grp, E-38700 Santa Cruz De La Palma, Spain

Publisher:
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO

IDS Number:
409XC

ISSN:
0004-6280
Cited Author            Cited Work                Volume      Page      Year

 ABT HA                NATURE                       395       756      1998
 ABT HA                PASP                         101       555      1989
 ABT HA                PASP                          93       207      1981
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC          107       401      1995
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC          105       437      1993
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC          104       235      1992
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC           99      1329      1987
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC           97      1050      1985
 ABT HA                PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC           92       249      1980
 BERGERON J            ESO MESSENGER    JUN                            1999
 COGHLAN A             NEW SCI         0511                    13      1991
 GOPALKRISHNA          B ASTRON SOC INDIA            26       417      1998
 KOTIAHO JS            NATURE                       400       307      1999
 LAMB JF               NATURE                       343       404      1990
 LANDOLT AU            ASTRON J                     104       340      1992
 LEVERINGTON D         NATURE                       387        12      1997
 LEVERINGTON D         NATURE                       385       196      1997
 LEVERINGTON D         Q J ROY ASTRON SOC            37       643      1996
 MASSEY P              NEW ASTRON                     5        25      2000
 MAYOR M               NATURE                       378       355      1995
 PASACHOFF JM          NATURE                       387       754      1997
 REES M                NATURE                       388       710      1997
 SCHMIDTKALER T        P SOC PHOTO-OPT INS         2871       635      1997
 SCHOONBAERT D         NATURE                       391       222      1998
 SMOOT GF              APJ                          396         1      1992
 SPRUIT HC             Q J ROY ASTRON SOC            37         1      1996
 TRIMBLE V             PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC          107       977      1995
 TRIMBLE V             PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC           98      1347      1986
 TRIMBLE V             Q J ROY ASTRON SOC            34       235      1993
 TRIMBLE V             Q J ROY ASTRON SOC            34       301      1993
 TRIMBLE V             SCIENTOMETRICS                36       237      1996

-------------------------------------------------------------
(c) ISI, Reprinted with permission
Please visit their website at www.isinet.com
-------------------------------------------------------------