Making a 3D Printed Moon Globe

A super realistic, gently glowing moon lamp for decoration or education

Mountain ranges, craters and mares are clearly visible

I like astronomy, and when I ran across these files generated from high resolution NASA data of the moon, I knew I needed a moon globe. Created by Thingiverse user moononournation, the thickness of the globe’s skin varies with the surface color of the full moon. Darker areas are thicker, so that it looks extremely realistic when lit from inside.

I have an Ender 3 Pro, modified with a direct drive extruder. It should print fine with the standard extruder too. I picked the six inch globe — the 8 inch should just fit if it’s scaled down just a touch to allow for support. I printed it in white PETG. It took a long time — about a day and a half, sliced in Cura with tree support.

At this point, I was worried about the top closing, and getting it apart from the support material

The print was fascinating to watch. It was my first try with tree supports, and it worked beautifully. The globe separated easily from the supports with a gentle twist. The print went off without a hitch.

Once printed, I drilled a small hole in the base and started experimenting with lighting. My first attempt, a 1 watt white LED, was much too bright — it looked silly and washed out most of the detail I was…