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International Heliophysical Year begins

19 February 2007

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This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Earth. This left portion is composed of an EIT 304 image superimposed on a LASCO C2 coronagraph. Two to four days later, the CME cloud is shown striking and beginning to be mostly deflected around the Earth’s magnetosphere. The blue paths emanating from the Earth’s poles represent some of its magnetic field lines. The magnetic cloud of plasma can extend to 30 million miles wide by the time it reaches earth. These storms, which occur frequently, can disrupt communications and navigational equipment, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts.

Credits: ESA/NASA - SOHO/LASCO/EIT

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Auroral displays over Canada pictured from the International Space Station from an altitude of 400 kilometres. The Manicouagan impact crater is visible in the foreground.

Thanks to observations performed in 2001 and 2002, ESA’s Cluster mission has established that high-speed flows of electrified gas, known as bursty bulk flows, in the Earth’s magnetic field are the carriers of decisive amounts of mass, energy and magnetic perturbation towards the Earth during magnetic substorms. When substorms occur, energetic particles strike our atmosphere, causing auroras to shine.

Credits: NASA

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SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. SOHO's science ranges from the Sun's hot interior, through its visible surface and stormy atmosphere, and out to distant regions where the wind from the Sun battles with a breeze of atoms coming from among the stars.

Credits: ESA

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Over more than 17 years of observations above and below the poles of the Sun, the ESA/NASA Ulysses mission has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the Sun itself, its sphere of influence (the heliosphere), and our local interstellar neighbourhood. The mission provided the first-ever map of the heliosphere in the four dimensions of space and time.

Ulysses was launched by Space Shuttle Discovery in October 1990. It headed out to Jupiter, arriving in February 1992 for the gravity-assist manoeuvre that swung the craft into its unique solar orbit. It orbited the Sun three times and performed six polar passes. The mission concludes on 1 July 2008.

Credits: ESA (image by D. Hardy)

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Cluster satellites study the effects of solar wind. Artist's impression.

Credits: ESA

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SOHO overview Ulysses overview Cluster overview

Details of solar particles penetrating the Earth’s environment revealed Cluster makes an effervescent discovery Cluster and Double Star witness a new facet of Earth’s magnetic behaviour What are solar flares?Scientists weather a space storm to find its origin How the Sun affects us on Earth Ulysses scores a hat-trick Ulysses embarks on third set of polar passes Ulysses, fifteen years and going strong Solar magnetism: a simple or complex business?