Tactile model of planet Mercury

thingiverse

This is a tactile 3D model of the planet Mercury made from topographical data from NASA's Messenger mission. The model was created using Jordi Burguet's Mapelia software, available on GitHub at https://github.com/jordibc/mapelia. The North polar cap appears smooth; the South Polar cap features the University of Valencia Astronomical Observatory's logo prominently displayed. The meridian aligns with 0º longitude in the planet's geographical coordinates system. After conducting tests, a diameter size of around 20 cm is determined as optimal for the globe, providing an ideal balance between portability and clarity. Larger sizes become cumbersome, while smaller sizes can be confusing.