Eartha

Eartha
Eartha from outside the DeLorme building
Detail of the globe

Eartha, the world's largest rotating and revolving globe, is located within the headquarters of the DeLorme mapping corporation in Yarmouth, Maine. The globe weighs approximately 5,600 pounds (2,500 kg), and has a diameter of over 41 feet (12.5 m). This gives it a scale of 1:1,000,000, on which one inch represents 16 miles (26 km), one millimeter represents one kilometer. As with most globes, it's 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.

The globe was completed on July 23, 1998, and it uses a composite database built from satellite imagery, shaded relief, colored bathymetry, and information about road networks and urban areas. The database used to generate the surface images was approximately 140 gigabytes.

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.

The atrium containing Eartha is open to the public during business hours. There is an adjacent gift shop that carries various DeLorme and geography related products. The mounting equipment is in a large pit below floor level and is visible to visitors, but the stairway down is chained off to prevent public access. There are two balconies that allow visitors to more easily view the higher parts of the globe. Some offices within the building also have views overlooking Eartha.

Eartha is constructed around a truss structure which is called Omni-Span, and consists of over 6000 pieces of aluminum tubing. This is covered by a skin of 792 map panels, each covering 8 degrees of latitude and 10 degrees of longitude, and attached to the trusses with a custom-designed system of hidden bolts.

Eartha was originally designed to be 42 feet (12.8 m) in diameter. In 1999, surveyors hired by the Guinness Book of World Records measured the globe at 41 feet 1.5 inches (12.53 m); while this is noted on the DeLorme web site (as of 2007-09-05), they also list the globe as 41.5 feet (12.6 m) in diameter. David DeLorme, CEO of the DeLorme mapping company, is credited with the design. The previous record holder is the Globe of Peace located in Apecchio, Pesaro, Italy.

External links

Coordinates: 43°48′29″N 70°09′50″W / 43.807922°N 70.164008°W / 43.807922; -70.164008


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Eartha Kitt — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt, 80 años, cantando It Was a Very Good Year, canción clásica de Frank Sinatra Información personal …   Wikipedia Español

  • Eartha Kitt — (1973) Eartha Kitt (1952) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Eartha Kitt — (Photographe Carl van Vechten, 1952) Surnom Miss Kitt Nom Eartha Mae Kitt …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Eartha M. M. White — Eartha Mary Magdalene White (November 8, 1876 January 18, 1974) was an American humanitarian, philanthropist, and businesswoman.Early lifeBorn in Jacksonville, Florida, White was the 13th child of a former slave. She was adopted by Clara English… …   Wikipedia

  • Eartha (artist) — Infobox musical artist Name = EARTHA Background = solo singer Birth Name = Eartha Moore Alias = Origin = Los Angeles, California USA Genre = Voice type = Contralto Instrument = Singing, Piano/Keyboards,Guitar, Drums, Saxophone Years active = 2000 …   Wikipedia

  • Eartha Kitt — Infobox actor name = Eartha Kitt caption = photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1952 imagesize = 200px birthdate = birth date and age|1927|1|17 birthplace = North, South Carolina, USA birthname = Eartha Mae Keith spouse = Bill McDonald (1960 1965)… …   Wikipedia

  • Eartha Kitt — I Australian Slang shit II Cockney Rhyming Slang Shit I m going for an Eartha …   English dialects glossary

  • eartha kitts — Cockney Rhyming Slang Tits (breasts) Nice Eartha s …   English dialects glossary

  • Eartha — /err theuh/, n. a female given name. * * * …   Universalium

  • Eartha — /err theuh/, n. a female given name …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”