International Heliophysical Year

The International Heliophysical Year is a UN-sponsored scientifically driven international program of scientific collaboration to understand external drivers of planetary environments and universal processes in solar-terrestrial-planetary-heliospheric physics. The IHY will focus on advancements in all aspects of the heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium. This effort culminated in the "International Heliophysical Year" (IHY) in 2007-2008. The IHY concluded in February, 2009, but was largely continued via the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI)

The term "Heliophysical" was coined to refer specifically to this activity of studying the interconnectedness of the entire solar-heliospheric-planetary system. It is a broadening of the concept of "geophysical," extending the connections from the Earth to the Sun and interplanetary space. On the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year, the 2007 IHY activities will build on the success of IGY 1957 by continuing its legacy of system-sides studies of the extended heliophysical domain.