Until the advent of space physics, astrophysical plasmas could be studied only using ground-based observations. Although observational methods have advanced over recent decades, the merging of heliospheric physics with astrophysics is far from complete due to the vastly different techniques employed by astronomers and space physicists. That astrophysical plasmas can be studies directly is a major advance in astrophysical research. The solar wind from the Sun is only one of many examples of solar winds, but it provides scientists with a basis for understanding how these formerly disparate disciplines are related. Cosmic Winds and the Heliosphere is a comprehensive sourcebook on conceptually correlated topics in astrophysical winds and heliospheric physics. The contributors review the various kinds of winds, such as solar wind, winds of cataclysmic variables, and winds from pulsating stars. They then examine the physics of wind origin and physical phenomena in winds. including heliospheric shocks, magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, and kinetic phenomena. A final section considers interactions with surrounding media, with contributions ranging from studies of the interstellar cloud surrounding the solar system to considerations of solar wind interaction with comets. Prepared to the scrupulous standards of the University of Arizona Space Science Series, Cosmic Winds and the Heliosphere is an essential volume for astronomers and space physicists.

This volume represents the state of the art of the science covered by the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) Division IV: Solar Wind and Interplanetary Field. It contains a collection of contributions by top experts addressing and reviewing a variety of topics included under the umbrella of the division. It covers subjects that extend from the interior of the Sun to the heliopause, and from the study of physical processes in the Sun and the solar wind plasma to space weather forecasts. The book is organized in 6 parts: the solar interior, the solar atmosphere, the heliosphere, heliophysical processes, radio emissions, and coordinated science in the Sun-Earth system. In addition, we highlight some of the results presented during the IAGA Division IV symposia in the 11th Scientific Assembly of IAGA in Sopron, Hungary, on 23-30 August 2009, which was planned simultaneously with this book.

Understanding how the Sun changes though its 11-year sunspot cycle and how these changes affect the vast space around the Sun – the heliosphere – has been one of the principal objectives of space research since the advent of the space age. This book presents the evolution of the heliosphere through an entire solar activity cycle. The last solar cycle (cycle 23) has been the best observed from both the Earth and from a fleet of spacecraft. Of these, the joint ESA-NASA Ulysses probe has provided continuous observations of the state of the heliosphere since 1990 from a unique vantage point, that of a nearly polar orbit around the Sun. Ulysses’ results affect our understanding of the heliosphere from the interior of the Sun to the interstellar medium - beyond the outer boundary of the heliosphere. Written by scientists closely associated with the Ulysses mission, the book describes and explains the many different aspects of changes in the heliosphere in response to solar activity. In particular, the authors describe the rise in solar activity from the last minimum in solar activity in 1996 to its maximum in 2000 and the subsequent decline in activity.

Written by experts who created the field, this volume explores uncharted scientific territory, with articles discussing the effect of our galactic environment on the heliosphere, planetary system and Earth. Leading experts in diverse fields discuss the physical changes expected as the heliosphere adjusts to its galactic environment. Topics include the interaction between solar wind and interstellar dust and gas, cosmic ray modulation, magnetospheres, variations in the solar environment, and the cosmic ray isotope record preserved in paleoclimate data.

On the Ulysses mission scientists gathered observations from the unexplored regions of the heliosphere. This book presents a highly readable and concise account of the results. The authors summarise our understanding of the area and provide the basis for understanding the more complex state of the heliosphere around solar maximum. The first chapter provides an overview of the region, introducing the heliosphere prior to the Ulysses mission, and mission objectives. Subsequent chapters discuss the areas of the heliosphere, large and small scale features, cosmic rays and energetic particles, and the observations of interstellar gas and cosmic dust.

The eleventh COSPAR colloquium The Outer Heliosphere: The Next Frontiers was held in Potsdam, Germany, from 24-28 July, 2000, and is the second dedicated to this subject after the first one held in Warsaw, Poland in 1989. Roughly a century has passed after the first ideas by Oliver Lodge, George Francis Fitzgerald and Kristan Birkeland about particle clouds emanating from the Sun and interacting with the Earth environment. Only a few decades after the formulation of the concepts of a continuous solar corpuscular radiation by Ludwig Bierman and a solar wind by Eugene Parker, heliospheric physics has evolved into an important branch of astrophysical research. Numerous spacecraft missions have increased the knowledge about the heliosphere tremendously. Now, at the beginning of a new millenium it seems possible, by newly developed propulasion technologies to send a spacecraft beyond the boundaries of the heliosphere. Such an Interstellar Proce will start the in-situ exploration of interstellar space and, thus, can be considered as the first true astrophysical spacecraft. The year 2000 appeared to be a highly welcome occassion to review the achievements since the last COSPAR Colloquia 11 years ago, to summarize the present developments and to give new impulse for future activities in heliospheric research.

In every scientific discipline there are milestones - periods of significant accom plishment when it is appropriate to pause and summarize the state of the field. Such is the case for the study of the behavior of cosmic rays in the heliosphere. We are just passing through solar minimum conditions, when the heliosphere has a well-ordered and relatively simple configuration. We have been fortunate to have an array of spacecraft - unprecedented in the history of space exploration and unlikely to be repeated for generations - to provide comprehensive measurements of cosmic rays throughout the heliosphere. Ulysses has completed its historic first exploration of the heliosphere at high heliographic latitudes. Pioneer and Voyager have been exploring the outer heliosphere. The durable IMP-8 and now the WIND spacecraft have provided detailed baseline measurements at Earth. Concurrently, there has been a steady improvement in theoretical understanding of cosmic ray behavior through the use of ever more sophisticated numerical models. This milestone in cosmic ray studies was celebrated with a Workshop on Cos mic Rays in the Heliosphere which was convened by L. A. Fisk, J. R. Jokipii.