Sun-Earth Connections Exhibit

Two touchscreens within the Sun-Earth Connections Exhibit and an exhibit sign in between them.

What exactly is space weather? How do coronal mass ejections make the auroras? How do scientists study the Sun when it's millions of miles away? The Sun-Earth Connections exhibit has the answers to these questions and more!

Featured Topics

  • The Sun has layers throughout its interior, magnetic poles, and is made entirely of plasma, or charged particles, that act like a fluid.
  • The Sun has its own weather. Scientists track sun spots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and more of the goings on of the Sun’s activity. Sometimes solar activity affects life on Earth.
  • Auroras near the North and South poles of Earth are caused by charged particles that are propelled from the Sun and interact with certain gasses in our atmosphere.

Interactives

  • Designed and built by NSF NCAR, the White Light Coronal Camera traveled around the world for nearly 30 years, capturing images of our Sun during solar eclipses.
  • Technology has evolved significantly since the 1940s when Walter Orr Roberts, the founding member of NCAR, was observing the Sun’s corona. Our mural wall, and corresponding touchscreen, shows the history of space exploration.
  • Scientists from NSF NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory (HAO) Lab share real-time images and data from the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, located on the island of Hawaii.

Touchscreens

Explore the Sun through images, videos, games, and interactives on the touchscreens in this exhibit. Then learn more about the HAO Lab and how these scientists study the Sun and space weather.
 

An angle of the Sun-Earth Connections Exhibit that shows many of the exhibit features.