NASA's solar dynamics observatory (SDO), launched just over a year ago, is helping scientists understand the variable sun and how "space weather" created by solar activity influences the earth. Chabot…

NASA's solar dynamics observatory (SDO), launched just over a year ago, is helping scientists understand the variable sun and how "space weather" created by solar activity influences the earth. Chabot space & science center's space weather awareness center is an innovative solar astronomy exhibit giving pride-of-place to the stunning images of the sun captured by SDO, continuously uploaded to chabot by the lockheed martin solar and astrophysics laboratory. This solar astronomy exhibit is designed to help our visitors understand the dynamic nature of the sun, its connection to the earth and the nature of its effects on human concerns, in furtherance of chabot's mission to inspire and educate students of all ages about the universe and our planet earth. Chabot, the premier space and science education center in northern california, draws both national and international visitors, serves over 165,000 visitors annually, including 50,000 students and 2,000 teachers, and is committed to reaching populations historically underserved by informal science programs. The space weather exhibit will connect these visitors and students to the compelling images of the dynamic sun captured by NASA SDO, showing the most recent 24 hours of sun activity compressed into a ten-second loop, updated hourly; illuminate the nature of these stunning phenomena by explaining the underlying science; and deepen and broaden the experience with interactive introductions to heliophysics as a systems science, emphasizing the sun's variability, its connection to earth and the nature of its impact on earth. Visitors will witness current solar activity and its effects on the space environment around earth: the main viewing station, displaying the near-real-time SDO images, will be supplemented by monitors showing recent images from other observatories; space weather conditions in near-earth space; current effects of solar activity on earth; and visualizations of events such as a blast from the sun and the formation of polar aurorae. Interpretive elements and hands-on interactives will guide visitors to an understanding of the sun's changing features and eruptions, illustrating key concepts of heliophysics that help explain why the sun behaves as IT does. Descriptions and demonstrations relating to the various solar observatory missions will help visitors understand how the images and movies were obtained, helping to build interest in and appreciation for NASA space activities. Chabot anticipates that space weather will be a long-term installation, on view for approximately five years and potentially reaching well over three quarters of a million people. Space weather uses SDO's rich, AWE-inspiring images of the sun as a springboard to engage audiences in the underlying heliophysics and systems science, leveraging the emotionally compelling, stunning display to draw chabot visitors into a more substantial exploration of the sun-earth connection. By virtue of the ground-breaking, visually stunning nature of the NASA SDO images, this exhibit offers an extraordinary opportunity for not only engaging visitors in solar astronomy, but for building appreciation for NASA activities and encouraging interest in stem fields as well. In bringing NASA SDO images to an established science museum visited annually by tens of thousands of school children and over a hundred thousand visitors from the general public, the space weather exhibit shares "the story, the science and the adventure of NASA's scientific explorations of (the sun) ...through stimulating and informative activities and experiences created by experts, and delivered effectively and efficiently to learners of many backgrounds via proven conduits..."(NASA roses-2011). Chabot's space weather exhibit is in thorough alignment with NASA's e/PO vision and with project activity categories in the informal education and outreach portfolio areas of the epoess program element of the roses-2011 NRA.