These are the keywords we use for the various update items. We don’t usually use more than three keywords per item, and for many items only one.
Astrobiology – About life outside our planetary system, or the search for it. This is separate from SETI, the search for intelligence.
Atmosphere – About the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Catalog – About catalogs of various types of interstellar objects.
Climate – About surface conditions on explanets.
Communications – About communicating over interstellar distances. This doesn’t include METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence) unless the paper is specific about communications methods.
Data Analysis – About analyses of data that show reportable results not immediately evident from the data.
Data Parsing Methodology – About methods of examining and analyzing raw data to prise out information found in them.
Exoplanets – About specific exoplanets. We only apply this if a specific planet or planetary system is part of the focus of the paper.
Finance – About financing of missions, instruments, etc.
Hot-Jupiter – About gas giant planets orbiting close to their host stars.
Instrumentation – About instruments used in interstellar observations of any sort.
Interloper – About interstellar objects entering our planetary system.
Internal Structure – About subsurface conditions on exoplanets.
Mission Design – About the design of specific missions, either interstellar probes or spacecraft, or interstellar observatories within our planetary system.
Observational Technique – About methods of observing interstellar objects for useful data.
Operations – About procedures involved in interstellar observation or exploration, specific to the instrument or mission the paper is about.
Philosophy – About moral, existential, or other non-scientific questions having to do with interstellar topics.
Planet-Planet Dynamics – About the effects (primarily gravitational) of sub-stellar objects upon each other in the same planetary system.
Politics – About political maneuvering around programs or instruments.
Propulsion – About methods of propulsion that could power interstellar spacecraft.
Relativistic – About propulsion methods that can accelerate spacecraft to significant portions of light speed.
Sail – About beamed power systems of all types, including papers about maneuvering, deceleration, etc.
SETI – About the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, broadly construed.
Software – About computer programs or procedures used in interstellar observations or instrument or spacecraft control.
Star-Planet Dynamics – About the effects (primarily gravitational) of the central star and planets upon each other in the same planetary system.
Star-Star Dynamics – About the effects (primarily gravitational) of stars upon each other, either in the same planetary system or when passing each other.
Sub-Neptune – About planets roughly 10 Mearth. This is a very rough definition, and usually the papers will identify the planets referred to as sub-neptunes or mini-neptunes.
Survival in Space – About research into long-term survival of humans in space, either physiological, psychological, or social.
Super-Earth – About “super-earth” (up to about 4 Mearth) planets. This is a very rough definition, and usually the papers will identify the planets referred to as super-earths.
Theory & Modeling – About speculative ideas of how interstellar objects look or act, and testable models of such looks or actions