Newly opened exhibit illuminates the connections between Sun and Earth
Redesigned installation at the NSF NCAR Mesa Lab provides free, interactive learning for all ages
Aug 27, 2025 - by Audrey Merket
The newly revitalized Sun-Earth Connections exhibit at the NSF NCAR Mesa Lab features hands-on activities such as creating an aurora or preparing infrastructure for a solar storm. (Image: UCAR)
Run your hands over a tactile interpretation of the Sun, create an aurora, or imagine you’re a researcher at a solar observatory – these are just some of the hands-on activities you can do on a visit to the newly revitalized Sun-Earth Connections exhibit. Stepping into the exhibit – located at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) Mesa Lab Visitor Center in Boulder – feels like stepping into space itself.
The free public exhibits at the Mesa Lab are known for allowing visitors to get a feel for the cutting-edge research being undertaken at NSF NCAR. To ensure exhibits are relevant and in good shape, they are evaluated every 10 years. The original Sun-Earth connections exhibit debuted in 2010 and was in need of a refresh.
For three years, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education (SciEd) staff worked to reimagine the exhibit. (UCAR manages NSF NCAR on behalf of NSF.) The team consulted with solar scientists from the NSF NCAR High Altitude Observatory to identify what stories they should be telling about the Sun and worked with designers to create an immersive and informative exhibit.
“The UCAR science education team was very intentional about creating an experience that would be user-friendly for a variety of people,” said Emily Snode-Brenneman, the UCAR SciEd exhibits manager who led the remodel. “Creating the tactile Sun was an especially fun challenge to work around. In real life, the Sun isn’t something you can touch, so we had to think of ways to translate the layers into something you could experience with your fingers.”
The exhibit also includes an interactive touchscreen game where visitors help prepare infrastructure for an incoming solar storm and “The Sun Today,” which allows guests to explore and view live images of the Sun from the NSF NCAR Mauna Loa Solar Observatory and the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory.
People of all ages are invited to experience the Sun-Earth Connections exhibit for themselves any time the Mesa Lab is open. In addition to the Sun-Earth Connection exhibit, visitors at the Mesa Lab can also touch a cloud, walk the outside weather trail, and learn about how researchers are making discoveries in forecasting that help keep communities safe.
More information about visiting the NSF NCAR Mesa Lab public exhibits: https://scied.ucar.edu/visit/ncar