Why do the maps draw inaccurate “shortest path” lines?
The shortest distance between two points on Earth (remaining on or above the surface of the planet) is a “great circle”, which is not a straight line on either elliptical or rectangular projections. This is less noticeable on the US map (since it’s a smaller area), but can be quite noticeable on the world map. In particular, if you fly from Albuquerque, NM to Tokyo, Japan, you fly northwest in real life, but, on the map, Tokyo appears far to the east of Albuquerque. Similarly, Australia is actually west of California, not east as the map shows. 3.8. What is the status of the world map? The world map is in experimental/beta status. I realize that it’s uglier than the US map, and that it shows the whole world even when the traceroute is limited to only a small portion of the world. It would be neat to have a world map drawn dynamically that only shows the extent of the traceroute, but I haven’t gotten that working yet. 3.9. How is the world map created? I downloaded a static image of the
