Chabot Space and Science Center's new "Solar-Go- Round" exhibit features a shimmering sun so big and blistering, you can almost feel the heat off its surface.

"It is so impressive when you come in and see it bubbling," said Chabot visitor Cecile Weaver, who attended the Solar-Go-Round opening night affair Thursday.

In nearly every corner of Solar-Go-Round, there is something to touch and play with. A display about meteors allows visitors to feel and hold a meteor found in Russia. Visitors can explore the relative weight of planets by lifting cans of planet-themed soda.

The exhibit explores each major body in the solar system. Many of artist Ned Kahn's interactive pieces exploring volcanoes and dust devils, which were part of another exhibit, have been put back on display, enlivened with new interpretive consoles.

"There's quite a bit of new stuff mixed in with the popular interactive pieces that were part of Planetary Landscapes," exhibit manager Tamara Schwarz said. "We hope visitors get a sense of scale with the solar system and a sense of what are some of the features of the planets."

The look of Solar-Go-Round is in line with Chabot leader Alexandra Barnett's vision of presenting exhibits that are bigger, brighter and more fun than exhibits at the center before her tenure there.

Barnett was lured from her position as creative director of the widely popular National Space Center in Leicester, England, two years ago.

At the time, Chabot was struggling to attract visitors to the almost $80 million center. Barnett promised then to bring colorful exhibits and learning games to the center, things that compel a visitor to continue a journey of curiosity though the center.

"We find the children are more engaged because of the color and the feeling," Barnett said. "They spend more time reading, and parents spend more time exploring."

In July 2003, Chabot opened its popular "Mars Encounter" exhibit - - a fun, tactile display all about the red planet, the Mars rovers and Martian rumors.

Solar-Go-Round was designed and partially built by the same artistic design company that did Mars Encounter, the West Office Exhibition Design, and its similarities are striking. Colorful replicas of each planet are suspended overhead, and below each planet are information and images of the planets.

"I think its really great how they made it to attract people of all ages," Chabot volunteer Julia Ling said. "I see 3-year-olds pushing all the buttons to see what happens, and adults are reading all the captions."

The exhibit, currently open to the public, accompanies Chabot's new digital planetarium shows, "The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket" and "The Search for Life: Are We Alone?" The $1.9 million digital planetarium system, paid for with a grant from the U.S. Air Force, debuts next Saturday.

Chabot Space and Science Center is at 10000 Skyline Blvd. Admission, which includes a planetarium show, is $13 for adults and $9 for youth and seniors.