A better approximation assumes the Earth is a slightly-squashed sphere (an "oblate spheroid"); "azimuth" then has at least two very slightly different meanings. "Normal-section azimuth" is the angle measured at our viewpoint by a theodolite whose axis is perpendicular to the surface of the spheroid; "geodetic azimuth" is the angle between north and the "geodesic"; that is, the shortest path on the surface of the spheroid from our viewpoint to Point 2. The difference is usually immeasurably small; if Point 2 is not more than 100 km away, the difference will not exceed 0.03 arc second.