Helionauts: A Cross-Organization Heliophysics Forum

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a lasting community-wide discussion platform in the field of Heliophysics, supplementing in-person interactions at conferences and within local departments. To address this, instant messaging apps like Slack and Teams were hastily adopted, but their constant online presence requirements posed problems: overlapping content and information sprawl across various chat workspaces, confusion about where discussions should take place. To provide a more coherent landscape for written communication, NASA is backing Helionauts.org, a permanent platform for heliophysicists. It features topic-based and searchable discussions, smart notifications for asynchronous conversations, and supports technical conversations with Markdowns, LaTeX, and code syntax highlighting. The platform fosters inclusivity, connecting experts, postdocs, and students to promote knowledge-sharing and collaboration in our heliophysics community.