Cartesian x,y,z coordinates and spherical rotoation

Attempting to build a virtual globe. have completed a bunch of Spherical(Lat, Long,alt) to 3D Cartesian (x,y,z) conversions and checked them with this online tool http://www.apsalin.com/convert-geodetic-to-cartesian.aspx

But what confuses me is how do I translate these x,y,z points to x rot, y rot, z rot values? When a specific location is selected I need to rotate my virtual globe(sphere) so the converted 3D Cartesian coordinate is centered on the screen. Or to put it another way, given xyz coord on a sphere, how to rotate the sphere to that point? Any suggestions?

 

You only need latitude and longitude to reach an arbitrary point on the globe.

Which order you apply them in is the trick, but traditionally you would apply longitude first (spin around the Y axis), then tilt along the resultant local X axis. This might be best accomplished with two separate transforms above your globe in the hierarchy:



Set that up, go into the inspector for Lat and Long and wiggle the X and Y rotation fields and see if that's what you're looking for. With the above hierarchy, once you tilt the latitude, you'll see that spinning the longitude would seem appropriate if a globe on a table is your reference behavior.