Circle of a sphere the Equator the only great circle. By contrast, all meridians of longitude, paired with their opposite meridian in the other hemisphere, form great circles. The diameter of the sphere which passes through the center of the circle is called its axis and the endpoints of this diameter are called its poles. A circle of a sphere can also be defined as the set of points at a given angular distance from a given pole. When the intersection of a sphere and a plane is not empty or a single point, it is a circle. This can be seen as follows:
Sphere and is called the equation of an imaginary sphere. If formula_5 the only solution of formula_6 is the point formula_7 and the equation is said to be the equation of a point sphere. Finally, in the case formula_8, formula_6 is an equation of a sphere whose center is formula_10 and whose radius is formula_11. If in the above equation is zero then is the equation of a plane. Thus, a plane may be thought of as a sphere of infinite radius whose center is a point at infinity. The points on the sphere with radius formula_12 and center formula_13 can