1912: The Atwood Globe is the first modern reproduction of the starry sky with movable planets. This hollow sphere of 4.57 meters in diameter was built by the geographer Wallace Walter Atwood (1872-1949). 692 fine holes of various sizes in the metal surface represent stars down to the fourth magnitude. The outside illumination serves for the impression of the sky. A moveable light bulb simulates the sun, and apertures along the ecliptic, which can be uncovered as necessary, represent the planets. The moon phases are reproduced by two disks covering each other. Two electrically geared coastings turned the sphere along the equator once every 8 minutes. The Southern polar circle was cut in favour of an entry. The sphere can be inclined to give access for fifteen persons to the interior platform. It is located at the Museum of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

A similar globe goes back to Roger Long (1680-1770) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1758. It was a 5.5 meter hollow globe that could hold 30 people showing the movements of the planets and constellations. It was destroyed in 1871.