Illustration showing the Heliosphere and its surroundings
The Heliosphere and its surroundings. Logarithmic spatial scales of the Heliosphere in relation to the interstellar medium and cosmos beyond the heliopause out to the nearest star, alpha-Centauri. Credit: NASA; reproduced in Moore [2020], Figure 2
Source: Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists

Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists was created as part of AGU’s Centennial celebration. It is a collection of memoirs, essays and insights by AGU fellows and other invited authors that capture the professional and personal stories of science.

Thom Moore’s Perspective “The Cosmic Timeline of Heliophysics: A Declaration of Significance” starts of by explaining his view of what is now called heliophysics in the style of our nation’s founding documents: “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a group of scientists to adopt a larger view of their world within the cosmos,…… ” He then goes on to give his story of becoming a heliophysicist 40 years before the term was introduced! This well-written and understandable paper reflects Thom’s enthusiasm for science. If you need a pick up, read this.

Citation: Moore, T. E. [2020]. The cosmic timeline of heliophysics: A declaration of significance. Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists, 1, e2020CN000137. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020CN000137

—William K. Peterson, Editor, Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists

Text © 2020. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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