A recent statistical study reports that the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) produced 4,190 refereed papers between 2012 and 2024, accumulating nearly 170,000 citations. With an average of 41 citations per paper, ALMA ranks first among major astronomical facilities worldwide in terms of journal impact.

Taiwan has long been deeply involved in ALMA’s observations, data analysis, and scientific development through the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), a key East Asian partner institute. In the field of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), ALMA is also a crucial member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). By significantly enhancing the sensitivity of the global radio telescope array, ALMA played an essential role in enabling the historic imaging of a black hole. ASIAA researchers have directly participated in the international EHT collaboration, contributing at the core level from technical development to scientific interpretation, demonstrating Taiwan’s substantial role in global high-resolution radio astronomy.

Among the top 50 most highly cited ALMA papers listed in Table 4 of the study, 20 include contributions from ASIAA. These include the large eDisk program led by ASIAA Research Fellow Nagayoshi Ohashi, which systematically investigates the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks around young stars and has become a cornerstone of international research on planet formation. In addition, Table 5 highlights highly used datasets of projects, including 3 projects led by ASIAA Associate Research Fellow Kazushi Sakamoto, underscoring the long-term and wide-ranging scientific value of Taiwan-led observational data within the global community.

From participating in black hole imaging to leading the eDisk large program and producing highly influential, frequently cited papers and datasets, ASIAA not only makes extensive use of ALMA but also plays a leading role in planning and directing major scientific programs—fully demonstrating Taiwan’s international impact in millimeter and submillimeter astronomy.

相關連結：

• ALMA publication statistics

• The first eDsik paper was presented in “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). I. Overview of the Program and First Results” by Ohashi et al. appeared in The Astrophysical Journal.