Opening Eyes to Sun-Earth Connections IHY goes Global United Nations "The purpose of the IHY/UNBSSI (United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative) programmatic thrust of IHY is to develop activities and facilitate partnerships that stimulate space and Earth science activities throughout the developing countries of the world, such as the establishment of ground-based instrument arrays and research programs. This includes the deployment of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers (see "Closing the Gaps" below), radio antennas, Global Positioning Service (GPS) receivers, all-sky cameras, etc. around the world to provide global measurements of ionospheric and heliospheric phenomena. This joint program, a collaboration between the IHY and UNBSSI, centers around a series of annual workshops hosted in Member States of the United Nations (which started with the 2005 UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the IHY in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.)" For more on "Putting the 'I' in IHY", Click Here. For a summary report delivered to the UN close to the conclusion of IHY in early 2009, please Click Here. SOHO SOHO, the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory, is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind. SOHO was launched on December 2, 1995. The twelve instruments on board SOHO were provided by European and American scientists. Nine of the international instrument consortia are led by European Principal Investigators (PI's), three by PI's from the US. Large engineering teams and more than 200 co-investigators from many institutions supported the PI's in the development of the instruments and in the preparation of their operations and data analysis. NASA was responsible for the launch and is now responsible for mission operations. Large radio dishes around the world which form NASA's Deep Space Network are used for data downlink and commanding. Mission control is based at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. IHY Africa The IHY-Africa Space Weather Science and Education Workshop (as seen in FROM THE SUN TO THE STARS) was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from Nov 12-16, 2007. The Workshop was under the auspices of the International Heliophysical Year (IHY), in cooperation and collaboration with several international and African national programs, including CAWSES, eGY, AMMA, and AFREF. The workshop was sponsored by many US and international Agencies. The IHY-Africa Workshop was hosted by The Ethiopian Physical Society in conjunction with Addis Ababa University and Bahir Dar University. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate scientific interaction and promote space science in Africa, with a strong educational focus. The space science community has been exploring ways to increase the observational infrastructure in the African sector, and to encourage scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa to become involved in the science objectives, and to host instrumentation at their institutions. The new observational infrastructure will facilitate the study of space weather, spark interest in space science education and research, and encourage the next generation to become interested in the space sciences. IHY Africa has continued with a 2009 workshop at Victoria Falls, Zambia: The IHY-Africa/SCINDA 2009 Workshops are aimed at promoting interaction and collaboration among African and non-African Space Scientists. These Workshops are being held in Livingstone, Zambia, between 7th and 12th June 2009. African and non-African scientists working in all aspects of Space Physics, and interested in scientific collaborations, are cordially invited to attend these Workshops. The "IHY Africa 2009" Workshop will, in particular, be unique because it marks the end of the IHY period and covers a number of projects that have been undertaken during this time; provides a forum for the launch of the new African Geophysical Society; and offers a forum for African scientists and their students to come together and make regional and international contacts. Click Here for more info.