No. A straight line on a mercator map is a path of constant bearing, but this will not generally be a great-circle route.
Mercator
Mercator
A map projection that is used for sea travel includes the gnomonic projection. This was most often used to find the shortest routes between points on a sphere.
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You might consider using the Mercator projection, which preserves straight lines and angles. This projection is commonly used for nautical charts and provides an easy way to visualize shipping routes and compass headings accurately on a global scale.
The Mercator projection is perhaps the most famous map projection in history. It was created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569 and is known for its distortion of the sizes of land masses, particularly near the poles, making the countries closer to the equator appear larger. It gained widespread popularity due to its ability to accurately represent navigation routes for sailors.
Mercator
Mercator
In general, no ... only if the two points are on the equator. The Mercator is probably the worst possible projection on which to try and identify great-circle routes and distances, true directions, and true sizes or shapes of anything.
Compare: Both Mercator and Gnomonic projections are commonly used for nautical purposes, such as routes for ships to take.Contrast: Gnomonic projections usually display a small area of the Earth, whereas a Mercator projection displays the entire Earth, but with distortions at the poles.
A great projection for visualizing shipping routes and their compass headings using one view of the entire globe could be the Eckert IV projection. This projection maintains relative directional accuracy across the globe, making it easier to interpret compass headings along shipping routes.
The Mercator projection is commonly used for navigation and general-purpose world maps due to its ability to accurately represent directions. The Gnomonic projection, on the other hand, is often used for navigational purposes like plotting great circle routes or representing shortest paths between two points on a globe.
Navigators use a Mercator projection chart to plot great circle routes. This chart allows them to draw a straight line, which represents the shortest distance between two points on a curved surface such as the Earth. By following this route, ships and planes can save time and fuel compared to following a rhumb line route.
The Mercator projection is ideal for visualizing shipping routes and compass headings on a global scale. This cylindrical projection maintains straight lines for constant compass bearings, making it easy to plot and follow navigation routes. However, it does distort sizes, particularly near the poles, but for maritime navigation, the benefits for route visualization outweigh these drawbacks.
A map projection that is used for sea travel includes the gnomonic projection. This was most often used to find the shortest routes between points on a sphere.
flow map for routes....isopleth,climograph,ergograph for weather...