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Geodesics on the sphere are great circles, circles whose center coincides with the center of the sphere. Any two distinct points on a sphere that are not antipodal (diametrically opposite) both lie on a unique great circle, which the points separate into two arcs; the length of the shorter arc is the great-circle distance between the points.
Klein quartic with 28 geodesics (marked by 7 colors and 4 patterns). In geometry, a geodesic (/ ˌ dʒ iː. ə ˈ d ɛ s ɪ k,-oʊ-,-ˈ d iː s ɪ k,-z ɪ k /) [1] [2] is a curve representing in some sense the locally [a] shortest [b] path between two points in a surface, or more generally in a Riemannian manifold.
The study of geodesics on an ellipsoid arose in connection with geodesy specifically with the solution of triangulation networks. The figure of the Earth is well approximated by an oblate ellipsoid, a slightly flattened sphere. A geodesic is the shortest path between two points on a curved surface, analogous to a straight line on a
Vincenty's formulae are two related iterative methods used in geodesy to calculate the distance between two points on the surface of a spheroid, developed by Thaddeus Vincenty (1975a). They are based on the assumption that the figure of the Earth is an oblate spheroid, and hence are more accurate than methods that assume a spherical Earth, such ...
A strengthened version of the theorem states that, on any Riemannian surface that is topologically a sphere, there necessarily exist three simple closed geodesics whose length is at most proportional to the diameter of the surface. [7] The number of closed geodesics of length at most L on a smooth topological sphere grows in proportion to L/log ...
Solving the geodesic equations is a procedure used in mathematics, particularly Riemannian geometry, and in physics, particularly in general relativity, that results in obtaining geodesics. Physically, these represent the paths of (usually ideal) particles with no proper acceleration, their motion satisfying the geodesic equations.
* For the sphere the center of every osculating circle is at the center of the sphere and the focal surface forms a single point. This property is unique to the sphere. All geodesics of the sphere are closed curves. Geodesics are curves on a surface that give the shortest distance between two points. They are a generalization of the concept of ...
Some examples of great circles on the celestial sphere include the celestial horizon, the celestial equator, and the ecliptic. Great circles are also used as rather accurate approximations of geodesics on the Earth's surface for air or sea navigation (although it is not a perfect sphere), as well as on spheroidal celestial bodies.