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.

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.

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. 

2027 Emerging Astrophysicist Award

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

The gravitational wave background (GWB) refers to the sum of gravitational waves from unresolved sources. The group of three papers collected here are based on the most recent observation run (O4) of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaborations (LVK) that also takes into account data from the previous runs. Although LVK does not report an observation of a GWB, the papers report limits that are of great importance to testing and constraining astrophysical and cosmological models that reflect our current understanding of astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics.

Directional search for persistent gravitational waves: Results from the first part of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA’s fourth observing run       

       A. G. Abac et al., Phys. Rev. D 114, 022001 – Published 6 July, 2026

Upper limits on the isotropic gravitational-wave background from the first part of LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA’s fourth observing run

       A. G. Abac et al., Phys. Rev. D, 114, 042001 – Published 20 August, 2026

Cosmological and High-Energy Physics implications from gravitational-wave background searches in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA’s O1-O4a runs

       A. G. Abac et al., Phys. Rev. X - Accepted 21 July, 2026

October 6, 2026

Neutrino astronomy and the effort to build a cubic-kilometer-sized detector at the South Pole are recognized by the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Focus story on: M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration) Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 021103 (2013)

M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration) Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 101101 (2014)

June 30, 2026

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.

Israel Gabay, Omer Luria, Edward Balaban, Amir D. Gat, and Moran Bercovici

Phys Rev. Fluids 11, 064003 (2026) - Published 16, June 2026

Large-aperture telescopes are currently limited by launch vehicle constraints. The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) concept seeks to overcome this by using liquid mirrors which, in microgravity, naturally relax into a precise spherical shape. However, necessary telescope maneuvers subject the liquid to body forces that perturb this interface. This study provides an experimentally validated analytical model for such liquid dynamics by solving for the non-self-adjoint problem of a thin liquid film pinned in a circular domain. Using the model to simulate decades of operation, we show that while edge disturbances build up, the inner 80% of the aperture remains optically precise for over 20 years.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 251002 – Published 26 June, 2026

A solar storm hitting Earth appears to have reduced the amount of incoming high-energy cosmic rays, suggesting a new way of measuring solar activity.

Sofia Flores and Jean-Baptiste Fouvry

Phys. Rev. E 113, 064127 – Published 12 June, 2026

The dynamics of stars orbiting a supermassive black hole can be used as a test case for statistical closure schemes that allow the calculation of dynamical correlation functions in the fully nonlinear and nonperturbative regime. The authors develop an iterative scheme based on the Martin–Siggia–Rose formalism, and find that it compares well with numerical simulations.

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.

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.

In this set of papers the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration presents the second data release (DR2, three years of operation) of Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) scale measurements from the Lyman alpha forest spectra at redshifts ≲4.16 (key paper I), and from galaxies and quasars at redshifts <2 (key paper II). Results are based on a total of ~15 million galaxies and quasars. Cosmological implications are discussed in key paper II, favoring a time evolving equation of state with -1 < wₒ < 0. The supporting papers present detailed validation analyses, an extended dark energy analysis, and constraints specifically on neutrino physics.

Email us at astro@aps.org

Join APS and connect with other physicists at your educational and career level and in your region.

Meet with researchers worldwide, shape the field's future, and engage with others in your specialty.

At every career level, APS membership gives you access to job boards, mentorship, and more.

Get subscriptions to APS's journals to showcase your research.

Through APS units, you can find other physicists who share your areas of interest and expertise within physics or who are working in your region.

Receive email updates for new journal releases