The "Planet Erde" globe makes it possible to visualize a multitude of astronomical concepts;
- elliptic orbit around the sun,
- earth rotation on its axis,
- duration of the day,
- solstitial points
- ...
The lit globe illustrates the concept of day, the 3 zones of twilight, ...
A luminous point indicates the sub-solar zone, i.e. the place where the sun does not create any shade at midday. All these concepts can be observed for a given day-hour-place by an adjustment of the dial at the foot of the globe.
The Panorama map.
The ground-vegetation map (switched off) shows the earth's surface; in brown the high mountains , in various greens the conifer forests, the tropical forests, the cultivated zones, in yellow and ochre the savannas, the steppes, the deserts and in white the polar areas or the glaciers.
The chart political map (switched on) shows the countries in various colours.
Columbus doesn't just print their globes; they strive to create an incredibly deep, flawless shine. It all starts in their state-of-the-art 'clean printing room', where their craftsmen work just with superior acrylic sheets. Bringing in all kind of papers is strictly forbidden, because it would bring in fine paper dust particles which could later be attracted in the printing process. Printing up to 24 successive layers of colors, there's a curing process between each layer, along with an inspection and careful cleaning. Once the printing is complete, a high gloss clear coat layer is applied over the entire map, then it is sent back for inspection to our cartographic department.
