Editing Orthographic projection (section)

== Cartography ==
{{main|Orthographic projection in cartography}}
[[File:Orthographic projection SW.jpg|thumb|right|Orthographic projection (equatorial aspect) of eastern hemisphere 30°W&ndash;150°E]]
An orthographic projection map is a [[map projection]] of [[cartography]]. Like the [[stereographic projection]] and [[gnomonic projection]], orthographic projection is a [[perspective projection|perspective (or azimuthal) 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=145–153}}</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|0-226-76746-9}}.</ref>

The orthographic projection has been known since antiquity, with its cartographic uses being well documented. [[Hipparchus]] used the projection in the 2nd century BC to determine the places of star-rise and star-set. In about 14 BC, Roman engineer [[Vitruvius|Marcus Vitruvius Pollio]] used the projection to construct sundials and to compute sun positions.<ref name="Snyder16"/>

Vitruvius also seems to have devised the term orthographic – from the Greek ''orthos'' ("straight") and ''graphē'' ("drawing") – for the projection. However, the name ''[[analemma]]'', which also meant a sundial showing latitude and longitude, was the common name until [[François d'Aguilon]] of Antwerp promoted its present name in 1613.<ref name="Snyder16"/>

The earliest surviving maps on the projection appear as woodcut drawings of terrestrial globes of 1509 (anonymous), 1533 and 1551 (Johannes Schöner), and 1524 and 1551 (Apian).<ref name="Snyder16"/>