Michael Zhang

3.3k total citations · 2 hit papers
47 papers, 1.9k citations indexed

About

Michael Zhang is a scholar working on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Geophysics. According to data from OpenAlex, Michael Zhang has authored 47 papers receiving a total of 1.9k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 41 papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 8 papers in Instrumentation and 4 papers in Geophysics. Recurrent topics in Michael Zhang's work include Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies (31 papers), Astro and Planetary Science (25 papers) and Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies (16 papers). Michael Zhang is often cited by papers focused on Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies (31 papers), Astro and Planetary Science (25 papers) and Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies (16 papers). Michael Zhang collaborates with scholars based in United States, United Kingdom and Netherlands. Michael Zhang's co-authors include Aaron Dotter, Adam S. Jermyn, Anne Thoul, R. H. D. Townsend, Shashi M. Kanbur, Matteo Cantiello, Jared A. Goldberg, F. X. Timmes, Bill Paxton and R. Farmer and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and The Astrophysical Journal.

In The Last Decade

Michael Zhang

40 papers receiving 1.5k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Pulsating Variable Stars, Rotation, Convective Boundaries, and Energy Conservation

2019 1.1k citations Bill Paxton, R. Smolec et al. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series profile →
A secondary atmosphere on the rocky exoplanet 55 Cancri e

2024 54 citations Renyu Hu, Aaron Bello-Arufe et al. Nature profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name	h						Papers	Cites
Michael Zhang United States	18	1.8k	462	99	98	97	47	1.9k
Andrew Vanderburg United States	23	2.3k 1.3×	850 1.8×	61 0.6×	74 0.8×	91 0.9×	127	2.4k
R. Vanderspek United States	18	1.4k 0.8×	579 1.3×	143 1.4×	69 0.7×	61 0.6×	82	1.6k
H. M. J. Boffin Germany	30	2.4k 1.4×	881 1.9×	131 1.3×	66 0.7×	84 0.9×	165	2.6k
V. Van Grootel Belgium	26	1.8k 1.0×	738 1.6×	24 0.2×	109 1.1×	139 1.4×	61	1.9k
Yoram Lithwick United States	26	3.1k 1.8×	235 0.5×	321 3.2×	98 1.0×	87 0.9×	39	3.2k
Eiichiro Kokubo Japan	24	2.7k 1.5×	221 0.5×	59 0.6×	141 1.4×	124 1.3×	91	2.8k
Gail Schaefer United States	26	1.8k 1.0×	682 1.5×	113 1.1×	47 0.5×	37 0.4×	128	1.9k
C. Rangel Germany	4	1.0k 0.6×	231 0.5×	284 2.9×	67 0.7×	49 0.5×	4	1.2k
T. Appourchaux France	24	1.6k 0.9×	484 1.0×	31 0.3×	78 0.8×	65 0.7×	125	1.7k
A. J. Penny United Kingdom	23	1.8k 1.0×	566 1.2×	91 0.9×	78 0.8×	30 0.3×	76	1.8k

Countries citing papers authored by Michael Zhang

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Michael Zhang's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Michael Zhang with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Michael Zhang more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Michael Zhang

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Michael Zhang. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Michael Zhang. The network helps show where Michael Zhang may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Michael Zhang

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Michael Zhang. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Michael Zhang based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Michael Zhang. Michael Zhang is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

Sort: Min cites: Since: Top N: Style:

20 of 20 papers shown

Malsky, Isaac, Emily Rauscher, Kevin B. Stevenson, et al.. (2025). Clouds and Hazes in GJ 1214 b’s Metal-rich Atmosphere. The Astronomical Journal. 169(4). 221–221. 5 indexed citations

Vissapragada, Shreyas, Jessica Spake, Heather A. Knutson, et al.. (2025). Atmospheric Mass Loss from TOI-1259 A b, a Gas Giant Planet with a White Dwarf Companion. The Astronomical Journal. 169(2). 104–104. 1 indexed citations

Zieba, Sebastian, Yamila Miguel, E. Sandford, et al.. (2025). Characterising the atmosphere of 55 Cancri e. Astronomy and Astrophysics. 697. A34–A34. 2 indexed citations

Berta-Thompson, Zachory K., Hannah Diamond-Lowe, Jennifer G. Winters, et al.. (2025). The Thermal Emission Spectrum of the Nearby Rocky Exoplanet LTT 1445A b from JWST MIRI/LRS. The Astronomical Journal. 169(6). 311–311. 10 indexed citations

Ih, Jegug, Edwin S. Kite, Daniel D. B. Koll, et al.. (2025). Population-level Hypothesis Testing with Rocky Planet Emission Data: A Tentative Trend in the Brightness Temperatures of M-Earths. The Astrophysical Journal. 987(1). 22–22. 6 indexed citations

Xue, Qiao, Michael Zhang, Madison Brady, et al.. (2025). The JWST Rocky Worlds DDT Program Reveals GJ 3929b to Likely Be a Bare Rock. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 995(2). L52–L52.

Piaulet, Caroline, Michael Radica, Qiao Xue, et al.. (2025). Insufficient evidence for DMS and DMDS in the atmosphere of K2-18 b. Astronomy and Astrophysics. 700. A284–A284. 8 indexed citations

Luque, R., Qiao Xue, Adina D. Feinstein, et al.. (2025). A Dark, Bare Rock for TOI-1685 b from a JWST NIRSpec G395H Phase Curve. The Astronomical Journal. 170(1). 49–49. 6 indexed citations

Zhang, Michael, Timothy D. Brandt, Roger W. Romani, et al.. (2025). A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 995(2). L64–L64. 1 indexed citations

10.

Zhang, Michael, Renyu Hu, Julie Inglis, et al.. (2024). GJ 367b Is a Dark, Hot, Airless Sub-Earth. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 961(2). L44–L44. 31 indexed citations

11.

Mansfield, Megan, Qiao Xue, Michael Zhang, et al.. (2024). No Thick Atmosphere on the Terrestrial Exoplanet Gl 486b. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 975(1). L22–L22. 23 indexed citations

12.

Fu, Guangwei, Luis Welbanks, Drake Deming, et al.. (2024). Hydrogen sulfide and metal-enriched atmosphere for a Jupiter-mass exoplanet. Nature. 632(8026). 752–756. 28 indexed citations

13.

Hammond, Mark, Neil T. Lewis, João M. Mendonça, et al.. (2024). Identifying and fitting eclipse maps of exoplanets with cross-validation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 532(4). 4350–4368.

14.

Xue, Qiao, Jacob L. Bean, Michael Zhang, et al.. (2024). JWST Thermal Emission of the Terrestrial Exoplanet GJ 1132b. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 973(1). L8–L8. 26 indexed citations

15.

Hu, Renyu, Aaron Bello-Arufe, Michael Zhang, et al.. (2024). A secondary atmosphere on the rocky exoplanet 55 Cancri e. Nature. 630(8017). 609–612. 54 indexed citations breakdown →

16.

Gao, Peter, Anjali A. A. Piette, Maria E. Steinrueck, et al.. (2023). The Hazy and Metal-rich Atmosphere of GJ 1214 b Constrained by Near- and Mid-infrared Transmission Spectroscopy. The Astrophysical Journal. 951(2). 96–96. 43 indexed citations

17.

Bean, Jacob L., Michael Zhang, J. I. Lunine, et al.. (2023). Confirmation of Subsolar Metallicity for WASP-77Ab from JWST Thermal Emission Spectroscopy. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 953(2). L24–L24. 36 indexed citations

18.

Bello-Arufe, Aaron, Heather A. Knutson, João M. Mendonça, et al.. (2023). Transmission Spectroscopy of the Lowest-density Gas Giant: Metals and a Potential Extended Outflow in HAT-P-67b. The Astronomical Journal. 166(2). 69–69. 11 indexed citations

19.

Paxton, Bill, R. Smolec, Josiah Schwab, et al.. (2019). Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Pulsating Variable Stars, Rotation, Convective Boundaries, and Energy Conservation. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 243(1). 10–10. 1137 indexed citations breakdown →

20.

Yee, Samuel W., Joshua N. Winn, Heather A. Knutson, et al.. (2019). The Orbit of WASP-12b Is Decaying. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 888(1). L5–L5. 85 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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