Galactica has an astrometrics area, which has spectroscopic and telescopic equipment that is now used to search for celestial objects that could be used as resources to keep the Fleet healthy.
Colonel Saul Tigh notes that the astrometrics team couldn't find any star systems in range with planetary bodies likely to contain water when the ship and her charges were in danger from a water crisis (Water).
Lieutenant Felix Gaeta often uses astrometric resources (particularly spectroscopy) in his analysis of information garnered from the Fleet's encounters of waypoints to Earth, such as the Lion's Head Nebula and the Eye of Jupiter ("Torn", "The Eye of Jupiter", "Rapture").
It is probable that astrometrics played a large role in the initial remote detection of a planetary body, located just outside a dangerous star cluster with food resources desperately needed by the Fleet during a food crisis (The Passage).
Notes
- For more on the sciences behind the Re-imagined Series, see Science in the Re-imagined Series.