At the recently concluded 6th COSPAR symposium held in Nicosia, Cyprus, COSPAR officially released the “Heliophysics Guidelines”, a set of unified global principles for the scientific study of the Sun and its effects throughout the solar system. Heliophysics is the science that studies solar and magnetospheric physics, space physics and aeronomy, and space weather, the latter posing a significant threat to modern life.
As a cross-disciplinary field which benefits from complementary measurements, for example by combing ground- and space-based observations, Heliophysics is a prime candidate for international cooperation and coordination. With its long history of enabling and facilitating such activity, COSPAR is the perfect platform for the Heliophysics community.
The initiative was supported by a powerful consortium including China’s National Space Science Center, the Space Studies Board of the US’ National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society (SPD-AAS), the Space Physics and Aeronomy Section of the American Geophysical Union (SPA-AGU), the Cyprus Space Exploration Organization (CSEO), the Canadian Space Agency, and Italy’s INAF.