Welcome to the Sun Earth Plan Website
2007-8 marks the 50th Anniversary of the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. One of the memorable events during IGY was the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite. IGY heralded the modern space era.
This year, scientists and engineers from all 191 Member States of the United Nations are participating in an international campaign to learn more about the Earth, the Sun and our environment. 2007-8 has been designated the International Heliophysical Year, or IHY. (Helios was the ancient Greek name for the Sun.) A key objective of IHY is to celebrate the beauty, relevance and significance of space and Earth sciences to the world.
The UK hosts a vibrant solar-terrestrial physics (STP) community with an enviably high profile in the international research arena. They are also involved in a dazzling array of space research projects, from earth orbiting satellites and ground-based experiments to far-ranging planetary probes and landers. SUN EARTH PLAN celebrates Britain’s pivotal role in space science.
Terrestrial Magnetosphere
The near-Earth region of space is seething with invisible magnetic fields.
Terrestrial Ionosphere/Atmosphere
The electrically charged layer of our atmosphere lying at the boundary of space.
The International Heliophysical Year
2007 has been designated the International Heliophysical Year, or IHY.
in Solar Exterior
INVISIBLE SPOTS ON THE SUN
Your Questions
"Is the Sun a star?"
Ron, Liverpool
The short answer is "yes"!
In fact, it's a pretty average star - the only reason is seems so different to the other stars we can see from Earth is that it's so close by.
The Sun is "only" about 150 million kilometers away from the Earth. At this distance it only takes light just over 8 minutes to get from the Sun to the Earth.
The next nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is 4.3 light years away. This means that it takes light 4.3 years to get to the Earth from Alpha Centauri. That's why Alpha Centauri appears to be a tiny pin prick of light in the sky even though it's about the same size as the Sun - it's over a quarter of a million times further away!
Dr. Jim Wild, Lancaster University
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