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Spaceship Earth not "centered" ?

Robfasto

New Member
It is the angle that the picture was taken from... Try looking at the hotels around Downtown Disney you get the same effect...
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
retroeric said:
I was having some fun with google satellite maps, and I located Epcot and noticed "the ball" was a little off center. Of course, it's almost impossible to notice this when you're there in person, but from a bird's eye view it is pretty clear.

Spaceship earth (drag the slider to zoom in)
The ball is not off center, the picture is taken at an angel and thus it looks that way. But trust me SSE is perfectly centered.
 

DznyRktekt

Well-Known Member
I agree that the photo was taken at an angle. Look at Energy for instance. You can see the colors on the side closest to Wonders of Life.
 

retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
peter11435 said:
The ball is not off center, the picture is taken at an angel and thus it looks that way. But trust me SSE is perfectly centered.

That seems like a reasonable explanation, and you're probably right, but the monorail loop and its relationship with the buildings inside (innoventions, mousegear? etc) make it look like this picture is dead straight on centered. I guess it's an illusion.
 
The Sat pic looks to be almost dead center over the ball and th park. If you look at SSE compared to the monorail track wrapped around it and the building coming out the bottom of it, it sure does appear to look off center.
 

DisneyChik17

Well-Known Member
Great pic! I took the monorail to the TTC then to MK. Had a great time, and did some momorail resort hopping. Great fun! LOL! It was my first trip by myself, I was scared at first but it turned out great.
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
UltimtMickeyFan said:
The Sat pic looks to be almost dead center over the ball and th park. If you look at SSE compared to the monorail track wrapped around it and the building coming out the bottom of it, it sure does appear to look off center.
The picture is at an angle, as someone else pointed out this is why you can see the colored walls on the right side of UoE but not the left. The reason other buildings and the monorail don't look off center is because they are much closer to ground level than SSE.
 

Rayray

New Member
I think that the sun's position on SSE is also making somewhat of an optical illusion. Part of the ball has no sun on it because of the sperical shape. That and the camera angle seem to be the cause (or am I just crazy?)
 

wild01ride

Well-Known Member
I think that what we are noticing is the effect of the paralax of the aerial imagery. Aerial images are taken so that each one has a slightly different angle (as the plane, satellite, etc.) is moving. When viewed together, it gives the impression of a relief map, so that you can understand relative height of the objects on the ground. This relief is slightly exaggerated and because of this phenomenon, SE is distorted more (and hence, looks "tilted" or off-center) because it is substantially taller then the other surrounding buildings.
Basically, the posts above were correct about the angle. I just added to nerdy big word! LOL! :drevil:
 

WDWCP

New Member
I love nerdy big words!

wild01ride said:
I think that what we are noticing is the effect of the paralax of the aerial imagery. Aerial images are taken so that each one has a slightly different angle (as the plane, satellite, etc.) is moving. When viewed together, it gives the impression of a relief map, so that you can understand relative height of the objects on the ground. This relief is slightly exaggerated and because of this phenomenon, SE is distorted more (and hence, looks "tilted" or off-center) because it is substantially taller then the other surrounding buildings.
Basically, the posts above were correct about the angle. I just added to nerdy big word! LOL! :drevil:
 

righttrack

Well-Known Member
These satellite pictures are typically very flat. They are enhanced with 3D effect, and thats probably why it looks the way it does.
 

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