3d earth planet globe.  Google Earth Interactive Earth Model

Screenshot from google apps Earth

We live in an age of development information technologies. Computer modelling provides scientists and enthusiasts with a huge field for creativity and scientific research. Today, on a computer monitor, it is possible to recreate processes or phenomena that are difficult or impossible to study in real conditions due to their duration, size, or other parameters.

More than just a globe

One such successful modeling project is the development by Google employees of an interactive model of the planet Earth, as well as its further development - a model of the starry sky. Thanks to satellite photography with high resolution images, a virtual globe opens up before users. Interactive Earth Model - Google Earth allows you to travel around the planet with simple mouse movements. Rotating the mouse wheel or double-clicking allows you to zoom in on individual areas of the globe. You can zoom the image to the scale of the country, region, cities and even individual streets.

Images are uploaded via active Internet access. Borders, names of countries, cities and other geographical objects are applied to photos interactively. Navigation bar on the right upper corner also allows you to change the scale and orientation of the globe.

The modern Internet gives really a lot of useful opportunities to those people who are looking for them. For example, a geography lover or just beautiful views can be very interesting virtual globe of the Earth, made in 3D.

On the network you can find quite a lot of services offering to view and study the map of the Earth globe online. Naturally, I want to consider the most interesting of them.

Mother Earth - one of the most visual virtual globes of the Earth

Indeed, it is this option that offers to look not only at the Earth's globe online, but also provides a number of opportunities for changing the resulting image.

What does that require:

  • Go to main page online service http://oos.moxiecode.com/js_webgl/world/index.html, where a 3D model will be presented in its classic version against the background of the starry sky and our Sun;
  • The image can be easily rotated in different directions by controlling the rotations with the mouse;
  • Most importantly, everything is absolutely free!

If desired, you can easily change the display option. To do this, pay attention to a small menu located in the upper right corner of the desktop screen. In addition to the classic one, you can find six more options for the virtual globe of the Earth:

  1. Blocks - displays the continents of the planet in the form of original blocks.
  2. Geodesic - makes it possible to evaluate the relief.
  3. Lines - similar to the previous option, only the model is presented in the form of spectacular vertical lines.
  4. Horizontal Lines - as the name implies, the lines will now be horizontal. Looks very interesting.
  5. Half Spheres - get something fantastic with the help of hemispheres.

There is another option - particles. What exactly it shows is not entirely clear. But it looks very original. Perhaps these are communication towers that transmit their signals throughout the planetary network.

Alternative online services

Of the alternative online globes of our planet, it is worth paying attention to three options presented on the website www.webglearth.com. This resource offers a rather interesting alternative:


The last option is a real find for historians who do not have the opportunity to get to Rome and personally examine this relic.

Many people not only study, but also take a great interest in geography and astronomy. These are really very interesting sciences. Especially if there is everything you need for an exciting and visual study. For example, today it is very easy to find online 3D model of the solar system. Which will allow you to observe the movements of the planets, the movements of satellites and other space objects.

Today we will consider the service of a slightly different plan. This is a 3D Earth globe online. Who will be interested in it? First of all, those people who love to observe directly our planet, but also do not forget to admire the beauties of the surrounding space.

How to launch the 3D Earth Globe online application

Finding this very interesting, visual and effective application is very simple - just use the help of our site, which is ready to offer to go to .

If everything was done correctly, then a three-dimensional image of our home planet will appear on the monitor screen, surrounded by stars and illuminated by the Sun.


It is very easy to work with 3D online world globe:

  • Enough to move computer mouse to change the viewing angle to the celestial body.
  • There are several additional options for displaying our planet. To do this, just use one of them. To select, just click on the desired option, which is located in the upper right corner of the screen.


Now we will consider another virtual globe - free program Marble.

Marble is a virtual (electronic) globe. Thanks to this globe, you can learn much more about your planet and about many planets. solar system. For example, about Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and their satellites.

Maps are designed in various styles, from road maps to climate, topographic, temperature, night lights maps. Also, it is possible to view maps in different historical periods. This applies not only to the Earth, but also to the Moon and Mars. For example, this is the Atlas of the alleged channels of Mars, compiled by Percival Lowell in 1895.

Or, the terrestrial globe of 1492. I have seen such maps only on a flat scale. Pay attention to the North Pole. Here we see the mainland, similar to the ancient Hyperborea.

Also, you can see a map of the Moon, for example, in 1645, compiled by Johannes Hevelius. As you can see from the screenshot, on the map we see a lot of lunar craters and lunar "seas". The sickle-shaped place is the dark side of the Moon, hidden from the eyes of earthlings, which was photographed only in the middle of the 20th century by a Soviet satellite.

Marble how to work with the program

Marble version 2.2.0 can download from official site for 32 and 64 bit Windows systems. Also, the program is great for Max OS X and Linux (this program is best suited for Linux). But, I would advise you to download Marble Rus version 1.4.1 first. This version has fewer features, but, it is in Russian. Accordingly, it will be easier to work with it.

Subsequently, when you get used to the program menu, you can update, or download new version. Unfortunately, it will already be in English. If you find a Russian version of the new version, I will be grateful when you paste its link in the comments.

So let's install Marble. We have a shortcut in the form of a compass. We launch our software. Then, we pay attention to left menu. We select the map, the Earth and in the "Design" OpenStreetMap. Then, with the mouse, we zoom in on the settlement we need. For example, one of the districts of Volgodonsk will look like this.

You can get directions on the map. To do this, in the "Route" menu, select point A, then B. We put them on the map. Choose, Car, Pedestrian or Bicycle. Click "Get Route".

Our route is marked with a blue line. Unfortunately, sometimes the program slows down. In this case, it is recommended to install a newer version.

You can enable uploading user photos (available in a newer version).

Ancient maps of Earth, Moon and Mars

This is one of the most interesting moments. You can see what the maps looked like from the end of the 15th century. So, let's see what cards are available to us in the program menu. To do this, select "Design" in the left column. Next, I will open the Earth globe for 1570. You can twist it, zoom in or out.

An incomprehensible continent (Hyperborea?) is again shown in the Arctic Ocean. Antarctica looks huge and is connected to Australia.

Not all types of cards are presented on the supplied program. To see others, select "file", "upload data".

We get to the page of the site, which presents a variety of maps of both the Earth and other planets for different periods. Download the ones you need.

Then, unzip the files and install in installed folder Marble. Namely, in the maps folder.

Moreover, we insert the maps of the Earth separately into the earth folder, the moon into moon, Mars into mars (who knows English, will figure it out quickly) and other planets also separately. You can see how beautiful the lights of the night earth look from a cosmic height.

Or what Eurasia looks like by climatic zones. For example, it becomes clear that almost all of Scandinavia, Karelia and Siberia are located in the Arctic polar zone, and St. Petersburg is located next to it.

I advise you to take a closer look at other planets in this virtual globe. Believe me, they look very nice! Good luck!

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