The present disclosure provides a method for determining a direction to a geodetic target from a geodetic instrument. The method includes emitting an optical pulse from the geodetic target, capturing a first image and a second image of the geodetic target using a camera arranged at the geodetic instrument, obtaining a difference image between the first image and the second image, and determining a direction to the geodetic target from the geodetic instrument based on the position of the optical pulse in the difference image. The method further includes synchronizing the geodetic instrument and the geodetic target for emitting the optical pulse concurrently with the capturing of the first image and nonconcurrently with the capturing of the second image. The present disclosure also provides a geodetic instrument, a geodetic target and a geodetic surveying system.