Editing Orthographic map projection (section)

{{Short description|Azimuthal perspective map projection}}
[[File:Orthographic projection SW.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Orthographic projection (equatorial aspect) of eastern hemisphere 30W&ndash;150E]]
[[File:Orthographic with Tissot's Indicatrices of Distortion.svg|upright=1.25|thumb|The orthographic projection with [[Tissot's indicatrix]] of deformation.]]

'''Orthographic projection in cartography''' has been used since antiquity. Like the [[Stereographic map projection|stereographic projection]] and [[gnomonic projection]], [[orthographic projection]] is a [[General Perspective projection|perspective projection]] in which the [[sphere]] is projected onto a [[tangent plane]] or [[secant plane]]. The ''point of perspective'' for the orthographic projection is at [[infinity|infinite]] distance.  It depicts a [[Sphere|hemisphere]] of the [[globe]] as it appears from [[outer space]], where the [[horizon]] is a [[great circle]].  The shapes and areas are [[Distortion#Map projections|distorted]], particularly near the edges.<ref name="SnyderWorkingManual">{{Cite book | author=Snyder, J. P.| title=Map Projections—A Working Manual (US Geologic Survey Professional Paper 1395) | publisher=US Government Printing Office | location=Washington, D.C.| year=1987 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Snyder1987MapProjectionsAWorkingManual/page/n159 145]–153 | url=https://archive.org/details/Snyder1987MapProjectionsAWorkingManual}}</ref><ref name="Snyder16">Snyder, John P. (1993). ''Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections'' pp. 16–18. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|9780226767475}}.</ref>