def METHOD_NAME():
    source_proj = ccrs.PlateCarree()
    img = plt.imread(NATURAL_EARTH_IMG)
    # Convert the image to a byte array, rather than float, which is the
    # form that JPG images would be loaded with imread.
    img = (img * 255).astype('uint8')
    ax = plt.axes(projection=ccrs.Orthographic())
    ax.imshow(img, transform=source_proj,
              extent=[-180, 180, -90, 90])
    return ax.figure