Fun Family Attraction in Salt Lake City
One of the newest attractions in Salt Lake City is the Clark Planetarium. The recently built planetarium is located in the Gateway District at the South-West corner of 400 West and 100 South. The Clark Planetarium took the place of the historic Hansen Planetarium in the spring of 2003. The Hansen Planetarium had been a popular Salt Lake attraction for many decades.
One of the main features of the Clark Planetarium is a special “pitless” digital dome. It is the first dome of its kind in the U.S. The dome, which is a 55-foot and made of perforated aluminum was manufactured by Astro-tec Manufacturing Inc. This domed theater features 205 guest seats that are equipped with individual interactive controls. The shows are produced by six high resolution projectors which are mounted behind the dome and work together to blend the edges forming a single seamless video stream over the complete dome. The theater also features a state-of-the-art surround sound system behind the screen.
The subject of the shows in this theater include a broad spectrum of mostly space-related themes. The list of shows includes various media and styles including 3D productions, narrated programs, family shows and music entertainment. Clark Planetarium Productions is one of the few informal institutions that has the resources to create its own full-dome animation productions.
Another popular feature of the planetarium is the IMAX big screen theater. Although the IMAX theater typically focuses on science and nature related shows it also includes entertainment-oriented films, on occasion, in the evening. Both 3D and 2D films are featured during the daytime hours.
The planetarium also features 15,000 square feet of free exhibits including the newly installed “Science on a Sphere,” a computer animation globe by NOAA, “Newton’s Daydream,” an audio-kinetic sculpture George Rhoads, a Foucault pendulum, Earth Globe, Meteorites, Telescope displays, and updating video from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA TV.
In addition, the Clark Planetarium is one of the few organizations to have an authentic sample of a moon rock on permanent loan from NASA. In addition to all of these exhibits, new exhibits are added on a regular basis, such as a Moon Gravity Simulator and a rocketry display by shuttle rocket manufacturer ATK Launch Systems of Utah.
Other Salt Lake attractions include: The State Capitol Building, LDS Temple Square, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Historic Trolley Square, The Governor’s Mansion, Fort Douglas Military Museum, Cathedral of the Madeleine, The Living Planet Aquarium, Memory Grove Park, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Museum of Natural History, Old Deseret Village and the Energy Solutions Arena (Home of the Utah Jazz).
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