Heliophysics: The Solar and Space Physics of a New Era. Recommended Roadmap for Science and Technology 2009-2030

Abstract

Our planet is immersed in a seemingly invisible yet exotic and inherently dangerous environment. Above the protective cocoon of Earth's lower atmosphere is a plasma soup composed of electrified and magnetized matter entwined with penetrating radiation and energetic particles. The Earth's magnetic field interacts with the Sun's outer atmosphere to create this extraordinary environment