Geodesics and how someone can end up in New Orleans by traveling East from the westernmost point in Alaska?
In: Planetary Science
Imagine you are standing on the surface of a small globe, 50 metres away from the North Pole. You take out a compass and start walking due east. Before long, you notice that in order to continue travelling east, you must bear left (*to complete the constant-latitude circle*). If you do not, you will “fall” southward, following a great circle path.
While the amount of bearing left diminishes closer to the equator, it is still true that one must bear left to keep travelling east. If one does not bear left, one’s heading will change from east to southeast.
Google Earth is a great way to see this.
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