SALT LAKE CITY — Planets, asteroids and meteors flash by, and you glimpse the blaze of a red giant going supernova in the distance.
The roar of a rocket engine travels through your feet and the back of your seat as a smooth banking turn reveals an inky black vista dotted by a field of stars.
While it looks and feels like you're a passenger on a journey into space, the experience is wholly the creation of a team of Salt Lake City computer maestros delivered via the high-tech wizardry of the Hansen Dome Theatre at downtown's Clark Planetarium.
The 52-foot spherical screen that tilts over the 200-seat amphitheater comes to life with six synchronized digital projectors and a 13,000-watt audio system that converts the room into a space and time warp to distant galaxies.
While the hardware can fill the room with light and sound, the real magic is in the hyper-realistic spacescapes and imagery created by a team of animation experts toiling away in the bowels of the planetarium at The Gateway.
Mike Murray, who oversees the production of programs for the dome screen, said the process has much in common with the work that goes into a feature film.
"Our goals are good stories, good scripts and a dynamic and engaging visual experience," Murray said. "And, of course, it all has to be based on good science."
That basis in science is where the Clark team, which creates the programs from the ground up, diverges from the Hollywood fantasy factories that ply their products at the local multiplexes. Murray said the themes explored in the planetarium works are grounded in current research and advances in a multitude of scientific disciplines.
"We're keeping close track of current trends and research," he said. "Extra-solar planets, Hubble telescope findings, exploration and NASA's work all contribute to our content."
Topics explored by Murray's team include the mysteries of black holes, the search for Earth-like planets in other galaxies and a visual tour of the universe.
Marketing director Dani Weigand said working toward a balance of engaging stories and informative science distinguishes the animated journeys created for the dome.
"If we get too specialized on the science, we risk losing some audience members," Weigand said. "We cater to those interested in space and science, but we want get everybody excited about the topics."
Finding that balance is behind the work of lead animator David Merrell. Perched at his computer workstation in Clark's basement production studio, Merrell is busy working on creating a scene inside a spaceship that's part of the show currently in production, "Attack of the Space Pirates," opening Feb. 13. (For more show information, go to www.clarkplanetarium.org.)
"We want to give our scenes enough detail and accuracy that it feels like you're actually there … viewing a planet, or walking around inside of a room," Merrell said. "You have to take into consideration human scale, and like a video game environment, you can't cheat. If the camera suddenly turns around, it has to look real."
Audiences have been enjoying the digital virtual journeys that Merrell and seven other technicians created since the Clark moved to its current location in 2003.
And that audience goes far beyond the walls of the Salt Lake City dome auditorium. Murray said programming has been sold and rented to hundreds of other planetariums and science museums in 36 states and 22 countries.
Jim Todd, planetarium manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, said the Clark programming is wildly popular.
"They've been tremendous," Todd said. "All the shows have been so good, we continue to play them."
Though other facilities produce programming for dome exhibition, Todd says the Clark shows are standouts.
"They're definitely of a quality that is unlike any others," he said. "High in educational value, great show plots and the visuals are very effective."
That kind of popularity has kept new customers seeking out Clark shows and last year brought in almost $350,000, money Murray said helps offset production costs and public funds that help keep the planetarium running. It also finances specialty shows created by the animation team, including a current holiday-themed show set to classic Christmas music.
Eight-year-old Katie Spangler and her mother, Lynda, visiting from Austin, Texas, caught the show while doing some Christmas shopping at The Gateway.
"It was really cool," Katie said. "We don't have stuff like that at home."
e-mail: araymond@desnews.com