During the promo, present your I.D. at the ticket window and see Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd The Wall, or Rock on Demand for just $4 on the following dates: 9/30; 10/7; 10/28 and 11/11. This is a great chance for “U” students to experience the new upgrades in the Hansen Dome Theatre.

Our classic favorite returns to the Hansen Dome Theatre this Friday, May 6 with an expanded line-up of songs. Think of it as Rock on Demand – Plus! The original song list offered mostly Classic Rock selections (and still will) with bands like Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Rush, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones. New groups will be available in the new version, reflecting a wider choice of styles such as Modern, Alternative, and Punk. More than 10 new songs have been added to the lineup, ensuring each performance will have something different for audiences to see and hear!

Show times for Rock on Demand are Monday through Saturday at 9 p.m. For information and tickets, visit our website.

The visuals we’ve produced for this show represent an evolution in our techniques for interpreting music with immersive dome animation. We decided to capitalize more on the creative environments and less on the abstract art, making for what we feel is a more engaging and emotive performance.  But we’ve also made a quantum leap in terms of complexity and detail – Led Zeppelin has nearly twice the resolution of any previous Cosmic Light Show!

Scene shot from Stairway to Heaven

We carefully mixed the soundtrack to get the most out of our modern 13,000-watt surround sound system. But then we added more: Full color lasers, theatrical fog, intelli-lighting, and live performed planetarium effects will add both modern and nostalgic visual choreography to classic Zeppelin songs like “Black Dog,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Immigrant Song,” “Kashmir” and “Stairway to Heaven.”

“Led Zeppelin” opens in the Hansen Dome Theatre on April 15, with shows at 8, 9, and 10 pm. Showtimes and tickets can be found on the Clark Planetarium website.

Contains material that some people may find offensive. Not recommended for audiences under age 14.

Audience members suggested we feature alternative music in our light shows. During the past several months, our production staff and show technicians have worked to develop an alternative music playlist and enhanced the songs with amazing three dimensional visuals, full color lasers and real-time effects.

Alternative X made its debut in the Hansen Dome Theatre July 9, 2010 and features music from Audioslave,  Beck, Linkin Park, Nine Inch Nails, 311, Modest Mouse, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Nirvana, Muse and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

If your lasts light show experience was with “Laser Shows” back in the 70s and 80s, we highly recommend you come “see the music with your eyes.” We guarantee the experience is nothing like ‘old school’ laser effects you were used to.

                                                                        Just how different are Cosmic Light Shows?

Featured shot from Linkin Park "New Divide."

To better take advantage of the 13,000 digital watts of surround sound in the dome, each musical piece has been remastered for 5.1 surround sound optimization. The projection technology in the dome uses six DLP projectors to display high resolution graphic images on the 55-foot diameter screen (a total of 7 million pixels to be exact). Add a 12-degree tilt to the screen, and audience members feel like they are being immersed in the content of the show.

Alternative X plays in the Hansen Dome Theatre on Thursday evenings at 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. View the trailer and buy tickets on our website.

On August 23, UTA discontinued the TRAX Sandy Line service to the Planetarium Station at the intersection of 100 South and 400 West.

The Sandy TRAX line, which serves TRAX riders south of Salt Lake City, now terminates at the Arena Station (located at Energy Solutions Arena) and requires TRAX riders to either walk to The Gateway or switch trains downtown and board the University Line to continue to the Planetarium, Old Greek Town and the Salt Lake City Central Station.

We have created a very brief web survey asking people what they think of this recent change in service. I hope that you will take the time to give us your thoughts by completing the survey or logging your thoughts in our comments section of this post.

We also also suggest that if you have an opinion you wish to share with UTA regarding this change in TRAX service that you call their customer service line at 801-RIDEUTA (801-743-3882).

We need your help.

If you have a band you love who’s music would be best enhanced with colorful 3D graphics and lasers, we want to know. Vote for your favorite band in the comments section of our blog from now through June 8. Anything goes, we are looking for any suggestions you have during this phase of the voting. After the June 8 closing date, we will develop a ’short list’ and ask for your votes again.

Ready. Set. Go!

10. Free exhibits: With over 10,000 sq. ft. of exhibits to explore, this is a great no cost activity that can easily entertain visitors for a couple of hours.

9. Summer Camp: Back by popular demand, the “How to Build and Use a Telescope Camp” is a 3 day intensive 3-day astronomy camp for kids ages 12 – 17 that includes lots of hands-on instruction and a 6-inch Dobsonian telescope.

8. Matinee Theatre Tickets: All shows in the ATK IMAX and Hansen Dome Theater are just $6 before 5 p.m. every day. A complete list of show times is available here.

7. Rockets!: Planet Fun Clark Planetarium Store has  a wide variety of engine, chemical reaction and air powered rockets. Summer is a great time for building rockets and then getting a group together to launch them to see who’s will fly the farthest.

6. Star Parties: Our friends at the Salt Lake Astronomical Society have free public star parties on a regular basis. A complete schedule is available on the club’s website.

5. Connect Pass: If you are looking to experience a multitude of venues over a period of up to three days, the “Visit Salt Lake Connect Pass” allows you to visit Clark Planetarium and 12 other area venues for $40 for adults and $32 for children.

4. Bug Catchers: Explore the wonders of your backyard and beyond while collecting bugs. Planet Fun has a wide array of butterfly pavilions, beetle barns and other bug catching containers.

3. Build your own planisphere: Download materials from the planetarium’s website to help find constellations in the nighttime sky.

2. Cosmic Light Shows: Cheaper than a concert and a great activity for date night, Cosmic Light Shows (complete with lasers and other special effects) play nightly in the Hansen Dome Theatre and feature artists like U2 and Pink Floyd.

1. Memberships: The best value for those who like to visit Clark Planetarium on a regular basis. Members get in to all IMAX and Dome theatre shows free for one year plus great discounts at Planet Fun, concessions and more.

I’m totally OK with that.  I completely love this place and the staff who make it such a cool place to be. The folks here all have amazing tales that are worth telling.

Let me tell you one such tale, and then you tell me if you want to hear more of them. If you don’t, I’ll stick to writing about things like cross-quarter dates and the significance of the Orion Nebula to the lives of stars. Those are pretty interesting stories, too.

Here we go.

I was hired as a part-time usher at Hansen Planetarium (15 South State Street) on a Wednesday in the fall of 1978. $2.50 per hour! Woot!

Four days later, Sunday, I was thirty minutes into working my very first shift and helping people find seats in the Star Theatre for the 7:00 p.m. showing of “Springtime of the Universe.” I had a blue plastic badge with my name engraved on it (Seth J.) and the official usher’s flashlight with the red filter and everything. Pretty cool.

As the lights were dimming and the music was swelling and “Jake,” the mechanical robot-like star projector was rising majestically from his hole in the middle of the room, a couple of young guys about my age whom I’d earlier helped find aisle seats near the back became noticeably agitated.  I went over to them to see what the trouble was.

They were dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and began every sentence with an emphatic, “Dude!”

The show’s narration was beginning so I crouched a little in the aisle next to them and whispered to the closest of the two, “Is everything OK here?”

The aisle-seat guy whispers loudly “Dude, what show is this?”

I whispered back, “This is Springtime of the Universe.”

He didn’t like this at all and fairly levitated in his seat, “Dude! What happened to Laser Floyd?” No whispering now, this guy was upset.

“Please keep your voice down. Laser Floyd only plays on Fridays and Saturdays.”

At that point the guy next to him reaches past his buddy, grabs my tie (we wore ties back then) and pulls me down until our noses are almost touching.

He was wild-eyed and trembling. His words formed slowly, but were very loud. “BUT…WE’VE…ALREADY…DROPPED… ACID!”

I escorted them out of the theatre, got them started on refunds with the cashier, and went back into to dark, domed room.

I have absolutely no memory of the rest of my very first shift working for a planetarium.