Welcome! The Center for Science Education at the University of California, Berkeley and the Stanford Solar Center at Stanford University are celebrating World Space Week 2008 as it marks the 51st anniversary of the Space Age.

Come celebrate with us October 4-10, 2008 by participating in activities and discussions around the Sun's massive storms and their affect on Earth.

We suggest the following procedure for participating in our World Space Week activities

1) Do some background reading or activities (Background)

2) Work with solar, magnetic, and radio wave data to determine if Earth has been hit by a solar storm (Activities) on Oct 4-10th.

3) Discuss your findings and ask further questions (Message Board) on Oct 4-10th.

4) Soon after Oct 4-10th, 2008 we hope you will have filled out our survey and let us know who you are and that you participated. If you're an educator, provide us with some idea of what you have done with students using this website. The survey is very short.

The United Nations-sanctioned International Heliophysical Year (IHY) is meant to coordinate world-wide studies of the Earth, planets, and Sun's heliosphere, that is, its influence throughout the solar system. Also recognized by the UN is World Space Week (WSW), October 4-10th, to celebrate, at the international level, the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.

This web site hopes to further the goals of both IHY and WSW by connecting students, teachers, and the public to data and technology from NASA-funded space missions. People from around the world can discuss and examine these data in the context of space weather to explore the Sun's raging storms, coronal mass ejections, solar flares, and their impact on Earth's magnetic field, auroras, upper atmosphere, and technology. We hope to increase appreciation worldwide for our very own dynamic star, the Sun, and its little-known influences on the space around Earth.