> I've seen this method elsewhere
> (http://www.kuffner.org/james/gallery/raytracing/earth_from_space/), but
> what if I want to use spherical meshes for the Earth surface later on?

I don't think that would be a problem.

> Also using the mesh two times with a very small radial offset?

I had not thought of that. I think that your maths will get a bit more 
complicated. As you rotate your terminator you will need to counter 
rotate your night side sphere. For me, using a modeller, it is much 
simpler having two concurrent spheres with one of them differenced with 
a box.
But why a mesh? Surely the height difference between sea level and the 
top of mountains is very small. Mount Everest is about 0.07% higher than 
the average diameter of the Earth. Would that be visible at the height 
of your camera? I think that the density of the mesh would need to be 
very high to get acceptable detail.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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