Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Physical Review Journals

The Physical Review journals portfolio is expanding its coverage of astronomy and astrophysics.


Several free-to-publish and Open Access journals of our portfolio have come together to form the Astronomy and Astrophysics Topical Group. It covers a broad range of topics, from nuclear astrophysics to exoplanets and planetary atmospheres, through our broad-scope premier journals Physical Review Letters and Physical Review X, and our topical journals Physical Review C, Physical Review D, Physical Review E, Physical Review Fluids, Physical Review Research, PRX Life, as well as Reviews of Modern Physics.

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Physical Review D

Cosmology, astrophysics, galaxy and black hole formation, gravitational waves and related areas of astronomy.

Physical Review Letters

The top research in all areas of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. 

Physical Review C

Nuclear astrophysics, star evolution, nucleosynthesis, and related areas of astronomy. 

Physical Review E

Space and astrophysical plasmas, planetary formation and dynamics, chaotic dynamics, planetary atmospheres, solarphysics, etc.

Physical Review Fluids

Fundamental fluid dynamics in astrophysical environments: Solar physics, stellar and planetary atmospheres, accretion disks, etc.  

Reviews of Modern Physics 

Cosmology and gravitation, astroparticle physics, astronomy and astrophysics.

Open Access:

Physical Review X

Groundbreaking and impactful research in astrophysics, astronomy, cosmology, gravitation, and astroparticle physics.

Physical Review Research

Physical Review Research covers all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics. 

PRX Life

Fundamental principles of life and its potential existence beyond Earth - bridging biology, physics, and astrobiology. 

Announcements

Physical Review Session at the Global Physics Summit in Denver: Key Discoveries in Contemporary Astronomy and Astrophysics

Emerging Astrophysicist Award for Outstanding Physical Review Paper awarded to Kushal Lodha

Physical Review journals among top research publications in latest Journal Citation Reports

Journal Metrics pages updated with data from the 2024 Journal Citation Reports

American Physical Society earns top score in SCOAP3 open science assessment

APS and Astrobites Announce Partnership

Special Issue: DESI Collaboration Data Release 2

After announcing their new result at the Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, CA, the DESI collaboration submitted their Data Release 2 papers to Physical Review D, which are now published. They are probing nearly 15 million galaxies and quasars, the farthest of which reach back to a time when the Universe was only 1.5 billion years old. The new data and analysis strengthen DESI’s first result from last year, favoring an evolving dark energy over a cosmological constant with high significance.

DESI DR2 results. I. Baryon acoustic oscillations from the Lyman alpha forest

       M. Abdul Karim et al.,  Phys. Rev. D 112, 083514 – Published 06 October, 2025


DESI DR2 results. II. Measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmological constraints

       M. Abdul Karim et al., Phys. Rev. D, 112, 083515 – Published 06 October, 2025


Construction of the damped Lyα absorber catalog for DESI DR2 Lyα BAO

       A. Brodzeller et al., Phys. Rev. D, 112, 083510 – Published 06 October, 2025


Constraints on neutrino physics from DESI DR2 BAO and DR1 full shape

        W. Elbers et al. Phys. Rev. D, 112, 083513 – Published 06 October, 2025


Extended dark energy analysis using DESI DR2 BAO measurements

       K. Lodha et al., Phys. Rev. D, 112, 083511 – Published 06 October, 2025


Validation of the DESI DR2 measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations from galaxies and quasars

       U. Andrade et al., Phys. Rev. D, 112, 083512 – Published 06 October, 2025


Validation of the DESI DR2 Ly⁢ 𝛼 BAO analysis using synthetic datasets

       L. Casas et al., Phys. Rev. D 113, 023520 – Published 16 January, 2026

Rethinking our place in the universe

Coverage by astrobites

The new map of the universe's expansion history released by the DESI Collaboration offers hints at a breakdown of the standard model of cosmology.

Find here astrobites' own coverage of the DESI DR2 papers, written by young astronomers and astrophysicists from around the world. View here.

Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, DESI co-spokeperson 2018-2024.

Upcoming discussion of DESI results and its consequences with

Featured Articles & Collections

Black Hole Spectroscopy and Tests of General Relativity with GW250114

Featured in Physics | Editors' Suggestion

A.G. Abac et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 041403, 2026 


An analysis of a record-breaking gravitational-wave detection tests whether general relativity holds under extreme conditions.


designua/stock.adobe.com

GW250114: Testing Hawking’s Area Law and the Kerr Nature of Black Holes

Featured in Physics | Editors' Suggestion

A. G. Abac et al. (LIGO Scientific, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaborations) Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 111403, 2025


In time for the 10-year anniversary of the first detection of gravitational waves by LIGO, Physical Review Letters publishes a new significant observation: Using a very strong black-hole merger signal, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration has shown Hawking’s area law to hold with high credibility.


Physics of life: Exploring information as a distinctive feature of living systems

Roadmap Astrobiology

Stuart Bartlett et al. PRX Life 3, 037003, 2025 


Living systems are defined by their active acquisition and use of information. This Roadmap surveys current research on life's information processes and their importance for the search for life

beyond Earth.


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Positive Neutrino Masses with DESI DR2 via Matter Conversion to Dark Energy

Editors' Suggestion | On the Cover

Large-scale distribution of galaxies up to six billion parsecs from Earth measured by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. Each colored dot represents a galaxy. Selected for an Editors’ Suggestion.

New Plasma Regime in Jupiter’s Auroral Zones

FEATURED IN PHYSICS EDITORS' SUGGESTION

R. L. Lysak, A. H. Sulaima, S. S. Elliott, W. S. Kurth, and S. J. Bolton

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 035201 – Published 16 July, 2025


Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole. A spacecraft observes a new oscillation mode in the low-density plasma.


designua/stock.adobe.com

Origin of the Most Recently Ejected OB Runaway Star from the R136 Cluster

FEATURED IN PHYSICS EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Simon Portegies Zwart, Mitchel Stoop, Lex Kaper, Alex de Koter, Steven Rieder, Tomer Shenar

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 021201 – Published 11 July, 2025


A detailed analysis of a stellar cluster has led to a possible explanation for several fast-moving runaway stars around the cluster.

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