Heliophysics

RHESSI

1,037 tracked publications and 39,720 citations from 2002–2026. Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. Launched 2002. Life-cycle cost: $169M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window April 1, 2002 to September 1, 2020: 909 publications, 75 top-10% credit.

Remote Sensing Observatory · h-index 92 · 86 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2005

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers April 1, 2002 to September 1, 2020
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods909
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods10,771
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods12
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods8
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods68 (7.5%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods75 · 5.2% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods7.7 · 5.3% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods92
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods150
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods3.7
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods219
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods591

Tracked publications

  1. The Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI)

    Lin, R. P., 2002, SoPh

    1,676 citations

  2. An Observational Overview of Solar Flares

    Fletcher, L., 2011, SSRv

    813 citations

  3. The RHESSI Imaging Concept

    Hurford, G. J., 2002, SoPh

    521 citations

  4. Flare Observations

    Benz, Arnold O., 2017, LRSP

    476 citations

  5. The Nucleosynthesis of ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe in Solar Metallicity Stars Extending in Mass from 11 to 120 Mₛₒₗₐᵣ: The Hydrostatic and Explosive Contributions

    Limongi, Marco, 2006, ApJ

    383 citations

  6. Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes Observed up to 20 MeV

    Smith, David M., 2005, Sci

    379 citations

  7. RHESSI Observations of Particle Acceleration and Energy Release in an Intense Solar Gamma-Ray Line Flare

    Lin, R. P., 2003, ApJ

    378 citations

  8. Implications of X-ray Observations for Electron Acceleration and Propagation in Solar Flares

    Holman, G. D., 2011, SSRv

    347 citations

  9. Differential emission measures from the regularized inversion of Hinode and SDO data

    Hannah, I. G., 2012, A&A

    336 citations

  10. The RHESSI Spectrometer

    Smith, D. M., 2002, SoPh

    329 citations

  11. Direct Observations of the Magnetic Reconnection Site of an Eruption on 2003 November 18

    Lin, J., 2005, ApJ

    321 citations

  12. Evidence for the Formation of a Large-Scale Current Sheet in a Solar Flare

    Sui, Linhui, 2003, ApJ

    295 citations

  13. Flare Observations

    Benz, Arnold O., 2008, LRSP

    281 citations

  14. Electron Bremsstrahlung Hard X-Ray Spectra, Electron Distributions, and Energetics in the 2002 July 23 Solar Flare

    Holman, Gordon D., 2003, ApJ

    277 citations

  15. Observations of the Failed Eruption of a Filament

    Ji, Haisheng, 2003, ApJ

    273 citations

  16. Polarization of Prompt Gamma-Ray Burst Emission: Evidence for Electromagnetically Dominated Outflow

    Lyutikov, M., 2003, ApJ

    266 citations

  17. A comparison between Monte Carlo simulations of runaway breakdown and terrestrial gamma-ray flash observations

    Dwyer, J. R., 2005, GeoRL

    253 citations

  18. Energy partition in two solar flare/CME events

    Emslie, A. G., 2004, JGRA

    241 citations

  19. Measurements of the Coronal Acceleration Region of a Solar Flare

    Krucker, Säm, 2010, ApJ

    241 citations

  20. Hard X-ray emission from the solar corona

    Krucker, S., 2008, A&ARv

    239 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming RHESSI in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

(((abs:RHESSI AND abs:(solar OR flare OR X-ray OR gamma OR terrestrial OR electron OR photon OR polarization OR transient OR image)) OR (abs:HESSI AND abs:solar) OR =abs:"High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager" OR =abs:"High Energy Solar Spectroscopy Imager" OR facility:RHESSI)) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2002-04 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (2)

  1. Imaging coronal magnetic-field reconnection in a solar flare Uses RHESSI X-ray spectra and images of the flare's reconnection site. Decision 🤖
  2. The Late Gradual Phase of Large Flares: The Case of November 3, 2003 Uses RHESSI hard X-ray records to study a flare's late gradual phase. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (11)

  1. 2006NIMPA.567...21D Electronics for the ground-based H.E.S.S. telescope; unrelated to RHESSI. Decision 🤖
  2. Count-based imaging model for the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) in Solar Orbiter Imaging model for Solar Orbiter's STIX; mentions RHESSI only as an analogy. Decision 🤖
  3. An Improved Method to Derive the Lower Energy Cutoff of non-Thermal Electrons From Hard x-Rays of Solar Flares Analyzes BATSE flare data; mentions RHESSI only as a future comparison. Decision 🤖
  4. Caliste-SO, a CdTe based spectrometer for bright solar event observations in hard X-rays Describes a detector for Solar Orbiter's STIX; mentions RHESSI only as history. Decision 🤖
  5. 2012NIMPA.695..394V Electronics for ground-based Cherenkov telescopes; unrelated to RHESSI. Decision 🤖
  6. The Large Imaging Spectrometer for Solar Accelerated Nuclei (LISSAN): A next-generation solar gamma-ray spectroscopic imaging instrument concept Concept for the proposed LISSAN instrument; names RHESSI only for comparison. Decision 🤖
  7. Rotating modulation collimator imagers Describes the rotating modulation collimator imaging technique; reports no results. Decision 🤖
  8. TARANIS XGRE and IDEE detection capability of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and associated electron beams Describes instruments for the TARANIS satellite; names RHESSI only for comparison. Decision 🤖
  9. SMESE: A SMall Explorer for Solar Eruptions Proposal for the SMESE satellite; names RHESSI only as a current mission. Decision 🤖
  10. The Instruments and Capabilities of the Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) CubeSats Instrument description of the MinXSS CubeSats; mentions RHESSI only as a complementary observatory. Decision 🤖
  11. Loop Top Hard X-Ray Emission in Solar Flares: Images and Statistics Yohkoh hard X-ray study; mentions RHESSI only as an upcoming mission. Decision 🤖