NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Credit: NASA The Study of the Sun and its Interaction with Earth and the Solar System is called Heliophysics.

It requires viewing the sun, heliosphere, and planetary environments as elements of a single interconnected system – one that contains dynamic space weather, and that evolves in response to solar, planetary and interstellar conditions.

The role of NASA’s Heliophysics Division is to answer the following questions about this systems behavior.

• What causes the sun to vary?
• How do the Earth and the heliosphere respond?
• What are the impacts on humanity?

At the center of our solar system there is a magnetic variable star, our Sun, that affects the planets, including the Earth, and sculptures the flows of interplanetary space itself. Heliophysics is the study of the Sun's influence throughout the solar system and, in particular, its connection to the Earth and the Earth’s extended space environment. The science of Heliophysics provides not only cultural and intellectual benefits to society, research results have direct economic and political impact in modern society.