Happy Holidays from Clark Planetarium. The ATK IMAX Theatre will host an extended documentary schedule from December 2 – 15.

The Light Before Christmas is the story of two children rescued on Christmas Eve by their friend the Candleman—a happy fellow who reads to them the classic tale, “The Night Before Christmas.” Magically, the children become characters in the poem and experience the ultimate holiday adventure. This stop-motion animated film will spark the imaginations of young and old.

There will also be an additional evening showing of Flying Monsters 3D during this time. For show times please visit our website clarkplanetarium.org for more information.

If you are a member of the Clark Planetarium, you can enjoy a complimentary admission to any documentary film in the ATK IMAX and Hansen Dome Theatres. Not a member? Find out how you can support our science programs and enjoy great discounts.

Karri Krattley, Archives Program Manager, in the stacks.

When Hansen Planetarium left its home at 15 South State Street in 2002 to move to The Gateway and reopen as Clark Planetarium, planetarium director Seth Jarvis coordinated with Salt Lake County Records & Archives to preserve the history of Hansen Planetarium for historians, students, and anyone who wants to know more about Salt Lake City’s Hansen Planetarium.

Karri Krattley, Salt Lake County’s Archives Program Manager for this project, said when she was digging through the material she was amazed to see what was put in the clipping collection. It took over a year and half to organize several loads of boxes containing video

Hansen Planetarium's Moon Globe exhibit from 1965. The globe now is on display at Clark Planetarium.

tapes,audio tapes, slides, photos, old movie films and scripts. In her in-depth organization of the files she did find some surprising pieces. “I was going through an old dusty, dirty box and right in the middle like someone had forgotten it, was a black and white autographed 8×10 photo of Werner von Braun.” (von Braun was a leading figure in the development of rocket technology.)

The "Star Chamber" inside the Hansen Planetarium (1965) with its first director, Mark Littmann, at the controls.

In addition to 38 years of records and correspondence, thousands of pieces of original artwork used in the creation of Hansen Planetarium programs from 1965 to 2002 had to be digitally scanned and cataloged as part of this archiving process.

If you’re interested in seeing the archives, call and make an appointment or send them an email.

Darth Vader, Capt. Kirk, Spock, Luke Skywalker, Yoda…

You could meet the strangest characters Sept. 22 when Clark Planetarium reaches out to galaxies far, far away and presents its annual fundraiser, entitled this year as the Distant Galaxy Gala.

“With guests encouraged to attend dressed as their favorite sci-fi characters, our 2011 gala could resemble one great, big reunion aboard the Enterprise” enthuses planetarium director Seth Jarvis, referring to iconic space vessel of the long-running Star Trek series. “The costumes judged the best just might win prizes that Scotty wouldn’t mind beaming up,” he grins.

The Distant Galaxy gala will be  Thursday, Sept. 22 starting 6:30 p.m. at the planetarium located in The Gateway, 110 South 400 West.  Activities will include special appearances by Alpine Garrison, a reception, silent auction, science demonstrations, dinner, the Led Zeppelin laser show in the Hansen Dome Theatre and Mystery Science Theatre 3000 in the ATK IMAX Theatre. Admission is $100 per person, $125 if purchased after September 11.  For full details see www.clarkplanetarium.org/gala.html or call 801-456-4970.

Clark Planetarium’s annual fundraising events help generate the funds necessary for the planetarium’s numerous community outreach programs that enlighten, entertain and educate the region’s teachers and school children about the importance of space science.

Jarvis explains, “Each year more than 80,000 Utah school children receive high quality astronomy and space science education series through the planetarium’s ‘AstroVan’ outreach program and in-house field trips.  Clark Planetarium relies on funds raised from our annual gala to bring children and teachers these valuable programs.”

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah students, educators and families and visitors from around the country and the world. For more information visit www.clarkplanetarium.org or follow Clark Planetarium on Twitter or Facebook.

For three weeks in September our dome theater will go through its biggest transformation in over 8 years.  When the Clark Planetarium opened its doors in 2003, the dome debuted as one of the most sophisticated digital theaters with the introduction of the world’s first Digistar 3 projection system.  Based on high resolution 360-degree immersive graphics, we could show the universe in three dimensions and full color with Pixar-like movie quality animation.

Just as with any digital technology, upgrades are sometimes necessary.  We replaced our projectors and playback computers in 2007 which improved brightness, sharpness and color.  But now the next major revolution in space theater technology is here, and it’s called Digistar 4.  Aside from getting a progressive number, what does that mean?  It’s a way to show even more detail, better contrast, and increased complexity.  A wider variety of 3-dimensional effects will be on hand to make each show unique.  Digistar 4 can do this with fewer projectors too – only two large projectors instead of six small ones.  That will essentially eliminate the perception of “blend lines” on the dome.

The new system also gives us a chance to pioneer a new technique for digital dome presentation – smoother motion though the introduction of higher frame rates!  Traditional film and video runs at 30 frames per second, and on a large domed screen that can cause “frame stutter” as objects and scenes move more quickly across the screen.  Our newest productions will display programs at 60 frames per second, dramatically increasing the smoothness and apparent sharpness of the imagery.  When we reopen our doors on Friday, September 23, our original production “Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens” will be re-introduced at this higher frame rate.  Our next show, “Perfect Little Planet,” is slated to open in February with higher resolution, 60 frames per second, and lots of action for the whole family!

Other improvements to the theater will be made as well: the dome screen will be cleaned and painted, the sound system will be refurbished, and better automation will allow for a wider variety of planetarium lighting effects.  Come and see the universe and music entertainment like it’s never been experienced before when the new Hansen Dome Theatre opens September 23!

Starlight from baby stars within the nebula blow outward in jets, sculpting nebulae into beautiful and exotic shapes in a way very similar to the way rain and wind sculpt the rocks of Arches National Park, Goblin Valley or Monument Valley.

Here’s the link. Here’s NASA’s link.

After the images load they’ll automatically start showing the animations.  Each frame of the movie represents a Hubble image taken at one year intervals of regions in our galaxy where stars are being born.

Notice that in each movie window a scale size marker is displayed – showing a scale distance of 1,000 Astronomical Units.  1 A.U. = the distance from the Sun to the Earth, which is 93 million miles (150 million km.)

That means that at this scale the distance from the Sun to our Earth is smaller (a lot smaller) than one pixel on these images.  Or you could think of it like this – that line representing 1,000 A.U. represents a distance that a beam of light would require about six days to cover.

Hubble images have also been used this way to make a movie revealing the rapidly spinning pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula (click here).

The Hubble Space Telescope as a movie camera – who saw that coming?

Beginning Tuesday July 5, Utah Museum of Natural History will host Planetary Explorations, taking campers on an exploration of the Earth, moon and stars. They will investigate how and why the Earth and moon move through the solar system and create models to explain their observations of the night sky. Kids will have the opportunity to work with Clark Planetarium education staff and meet astronomers on visits to the University of Utah’s Physics Department.

The four day camp (7/5 – 7/8/2011) is $195 and registration is available online.

Summer camps make learning fun with hands on activities and team building exercises.

Next up on our list of summer adventures is the Mission to Mars/Bizarre and Amazing Plants Camp (7/11 – 7/15/2011). For this camp our education staff will be at Red Butte Garden to teach kids about life on Mars. Through experimentation and discovery, they will learn about the mysterious red planet. There will also be an afternoon session about other-worldly plants like the Corpse Flower and Dragon Blood Tree.

This camp is for 5th and 6th graders and is available for $235.

Also at Red Butte Garden is the Out of this World Science/Weather Watchers Camp. During the week of July 18 (7/18 – 7/22/2011) campers explore “out of this world science” and weather activities. They will spend the first part of the day with our education staff learning how to build comets, design spacecrafts and perform a variety of other exciting experiments. In the afternoon, they learn about the physical world by discovering how Utah’s unique weather affects local plants and animals.

This camp is for 3rd and 4th graders and is available for $235. Registration for the Red Butte Gardens camps is available here.

In August, Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway partner for the Summer Science Adventure Camp (8/2 – 8/4/2011). Here kids will receive hands-on training that inspires teamwork, creativity and innovation. They will be challenged to see the world differently, whether it is looking at something a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, or as large as galaxies in the universe.

This three day camp is for 5th and 6th graders and is available for $195 (Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway members receive 15% off). To register, email reservations@clarkplanetarium.org.

A membership to Clark Planetarium gives you the best access to the planetarium experience and helps to fund our educational programs. We are excited to release a new benefit package that gives members two years to enjoy added program benefits.

Beginning this month, we are offering a special 2-year membership program at a discounted rate. Sign up for the program and save 15% off what you would pay for two subsequent memberships. You’ll also receive valuable coupons that can be redeemed for any one combo pack at our concessions counter.

For example:

A Duo Membership (2 cards) is regularly priced at $49. The two year price is $83 and comes with 2 concessions combo coupons.

A Family Membership (5 cards) is regularly priced at $99. The two year price is $168 and comes with 4 concessions combo coupons and a free one hour classroom rental.

A Super Family Membership (8 cards) is regularly priced at $149. The two year price is $253 and comes with 6 concessions combo coupons and a free one hour classroom rental.

These new added benefits are offered in addition to the regular membership benefits of free access to any show in the Hansen Dome Theatre or documentaries in the ATK IMAX Theatre (NOTE: Complimentary admission is not available for Special Engagement programs or ‘Hollywood’ films. Members also receive a 15% discount at Planet Fun Clark Planetarium Store and invitations to members only events.

By investing in our membership program, you will also be supporting our exhibits and space science education programs. Take advantage of our program by downloading the membership form or by emailing our Membership Coordinator, Carl Malaret for additional details. ]]> http://www.clarkplanetarium.com/blog/new-two-year-membership-program-available/feed 0 http://www.clarkplanetarium.com/blog/a-brief-look-back-at-2010 http://www.clarkplanetarium.com/blog/a-brief-look-back-at-2010#comments Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:01:32 +0000 Seth Jarvis http://www.clarkplanetarium.com/blog/?p=2798 When I became the director of Clark Planetarium in 2001, the “you’re kidding me!” news was that there have been discovered as many planets orbiting stars other than our Sun as there are planets in our own solar system. As 2011 begins, the number of these “exoplanets” discovered by astronomers exceeds 500. That breathtaking acceleration in the rate of discovery is happening in all areas of the space sciences, and we are thrilled to be sharing these advancements with our visitors.

In just the last year we’ve seen the discovery of water on the moon, viewed enormous ice geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, seen a spacecraft retrieve a small piece of an asteroid and return it safely to Earth, and dozens of other science news stories that would have seemed like science fiction not long ago.

What will we be saying about the universe at the end of 2011? I guarantee you that there will be surprises.

Public science literacy is critical to our economic survival and to our ability to thrive in the complexities of the 21st Century. Our job here at Clark Planetarium is to give the public the best possible understanding of important space science news, and to help our audiences develop a lifelong appreciation for the astonishing science that’s happening all around us every day. As we work to better educate the students in our communities about space science, we have enjoyed overwhelming support from many Utah teachers, students and businesses. Please click here to view our 2010 annual report that reviews the impact of our programs and highlights the businesses that help make this possible.

Thank you for the support you gave Clark Planetarium in 2010, and let’s see what awaits us in 2011!

Clark Planetarium’s space-exploration themed building is not only large enough to accommodate up to 800 guests, the inclusion of the ATK 3D IMAX Theatre, Hansen Dome Theatre and exhibits allow you to create a customized event with immersive entertainment.

Choose Clark Planetarium and add a unique twist to your next party.

Special events can be as simple as booking one of our theatres for a private show or, if you have a large scale production, we can close the building to the public, allowing you access to all 10,000 square feet of exhibits in addition to the IMAX and Dome Theatre. Our venue has been used for everything from birthday parties to fundraising galas, corporate events and family appreciation days and we offer planning assistance through our Special Events Coordinator.

Our theatres are customizable and can be used for showing films in our library, product or demonstration DVD’s or slide presentations. The Hansen Dome Theatre incorporates spotlights and ambient lighting, or, if you want to get really creative, full-color lasers. Simple animation sequences can be developed at an additional charge, which some corporations have used for logo animation or presentations.

Visit our website for complete pricing information and to view our approved catering list. We welcome requests for building tours by emailing our Special Events Coordinator, Carl Malaret