this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2025
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I got this far on the Wikipedia and gave up:
I went down a rabbit hole about globes and maps recently
Basically, to find the shortest distant between two places on a globe (a 'straight' line), imagine a hoop or circle round the earth that cuts it exactly in half, and rotate it until it passes through both places (still cutting it exactly in half)
That's a great circle.
There are 2d map projections that are built around this, but they only work when one of the locations is at the center of the map. So it could show the shortest distance from, say, London to anywhere with a straight line, but it wouldn't work for a route not including London
Ah, okay that makes more sense! Thanks!
Another way to say it, if you cut a sphere in half and both sides are equal, its a great circle. All lines of longitude and the equator are great circles.
All that and not even one rabbit.