World's Largest Rotating Globe
Eartha, the world's Largest Rotating Globe, is located within the headquarters of the DeLorme mapping corporation in Yarmouth, Maine. Eartha was unveiled in 1998 taking two years to complete. This globe weighs approximately 2,500 kg, and has a diameter of over 41 feet. It was built at a scale of 1:1 million i.e one millimeter on its surface corresponds to one kilometer on Earth's surface. The database used to generate the surface images was approximately 140 gigabytes. That was a big thing back in 1998.
Eartha is contained in an atrium with several glass walls that allow it to be seen from outside of the building; it is readily visible from U.S. Route 1. At night, the globe is illuminated.As with most globes, its mounted at a 23.5 degree angle, the same axial tilt as the Earth itself; thus the equator is diagonal to the floor. It uses a cantilever mount with two motors, and simulates one day's revolution and rotation every hour, though it is possible for the motors to fully rotate the globe in as little as one minute.
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubycantfa… http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/events/departme… https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshy_in_j… More Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha…
Eartha is contained in an atrium with several glass walls that allow it to be seen from outside of the building; it is readily visible from U.S. Route 1. At night, the globe is illuminated.As with most globes, its mounted at a 23.5 degree angle, the same axial tilt as the Earth itself; thus the equator is diagonal to the floor. It uses a cantilever mount with two motors, and simulates one day's revolution and rotation every hour, though it is possible for the motors to fully rotate the globe in as little as one minute.
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubycantfa… http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/events/departme… https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshy_in_j… More Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha…