What is the Heliosphere?
The heliosphere is the region of space dominated by the Sun's solar wind and magnetic field. It extends from the Sun far beyond the planets—the heliopause is where the solar wind is balanced by the interstellar medium. So the heliosphere is the "bubble" within which space weather (solar wind, CMEs) propagates. Earth and all the planets orbit inside the heliosphere, so we are constantly embedded in the solar wind and affected by CMEs and other solar activity. Cosmic Radar shows how that activity translates into Kp, aurora, and space weather events in the daily report.
Sources and further reading
- NASA – Heliosphere – The Sun's influence in space
- NOAA Space Weather – Solar wind and Kp
- ESA – Space weather – Monitoring and forecasts