You were asking what the application of "image rings" was - this is a great tool (range rings) when you want to know what lies a certain distance away from a certain fixed point.

For example I work in the mineral exploration business and it is very useful to be able to plot up a point and then to draw a circle of a certain distance around it.

A current example is that we are drilling a borehole and have been told the next one will be 200 metres away at a bearing of 135 degrees. I have been able to plot this data up using this amazing website (www.GPSVisualizer.com) and see exactly where the next drill site will be on Google Maps (another amazing website with free satellite imagery that a few years ago would have cost a couple of thousand dollars to buy that is now free)

Micky