Quote:
Originally Posted by edale
^That's obviously a flight path, not Google's distance calculator...
Here is what I was looking at:
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iheartthed's map is the great circle, shortest distance path. (
Generating link).
For cities on the same side of the equator but a significant longitude apart, the shortest path quickly arcs towards the pole since the equatorial bulge adds distance so quickly. New York (74 W) and Hong Kong (114 E) are so close to diametric opposites that their shortest distance is going to go right over the pole.
That angle over the North Pacific is going to be significantly longer since what you save in latitude gets absolutely wrecked in how much more longitudinal distance you face versus the polar route.