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The term pointed observation is one of the terms used in astronomy for the observation of a specific source by pointing some telescope at it and carrying out the observation. The term is used when surveys are under discussion: a survey can consist of observations covering an area of the sky to see what's there rather than the above-described point observation. The term is perhaps most often used for space telescopes that both survey and carry out observation on individual targets. But there are also surveys based on a list of known targets, which consist of pointed observations of each.