Image: Rhumb line vs great-circle arc

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Description: A rhumb line (blue) compared to a great-circle arc (red) between Lisbon, Portugal and Havana, Cuba. Top: orthographic projection. Bottom: Mercator projection. The rhumb line (constant compass bearing; straight line on the Mercator projection) is slightly longer than the great-circle arc (shortest distance on the sphere), but is a close enough approximation to be used in marine navigation, especially when a chart, a magnetic compass, and the stars were the only available tools for determining position and orientation of a ship.
Title: Rhumb line vs great-circle arc
Credit: Own work
Author: Jacob Rus
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes

Image usage

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Mercator projection

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