Astronomy is the study of everything in the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. That includes objects we can see with our naked eyes, like the Sun , the Moon , the planets, and the stars . It also includes objects we can only see with telescopes or other instruments, like faraway galaxies and tiny particles.
The science of field astronomy offers to surveyors @ geomatics engineers a means of determining the absolute location of any point or absolute location and direction of any line-on the surface of the earth, by making astronomical observations to celestial bodies. Traditionally, geomatics activities deal with determining precise azimuth, positioning and timing. The dependency on astronomical techniques for carrying out such practices has been well understood.
Astronomic azimuths are bearings, which are referenced to the true north direction whereas geodetic azimuths are those referenced to a grid north direction. The difference between these two directions can be expressed through the deflection of the vertical.
