Occultation definition |Dictionary.com

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occultation

5 dictionary results for: Occultation

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

oc·cul·ta·tion

[ok-uhl-tey-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Astronomy. the passage of one celestial body in front of another, thus hiding the other from view: applied esp. to the moon's coming between an observer and a star or planet.

2.	disappearance from view or notice.

3.	the act of blocking or hiding from view.

4.	the resulting hidden or concealed state.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L occultātiōn- (s. of occultātiō) a hiding, equiv. to occultāt(us) (ptp. of occultāre to conceal, keep something hidden, freq. of occulere; see occult) + -iōn- -ion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

oc·cul·ta·tion (ŏk'ŭl-tā'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of occulting or the state of being occulted.
Astronomy
1. The passage of a celestial body across a line between an observer and another celestial object, as when the moon moves between Earth and the sun in a solar eclipse.
2. The progressive blocking of light, radio waves, or other radiation from a celestial source during such a passage.
3. An observational technique for determining the position or radiant structure of a celestial source so occulted: a lunar occultation of a quasar.

[Middle English occultacion, from Latin occultātiō, occultātiōn-, from occultātus, past participle of occultāre, frequentative of occulere, to conceal; see occult.]

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

occultation
noun
one celestial body obscures another [syn: eclipse]

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

occultation (ŏk'ŭl-tā'shən) Pronunciation Key
The passage of one celestial object in front of another, temporarily blocking the more distant object from view. Occultations can provide information about the existence and measurements of the obscuring object. For example, when an asteroid passes in front of a star, the star is temporarily obscured to an observer on Earth, thus revealing the presence and approximate size of the asteroid. In 1977, astronomers were able to identify the rings around the planet Uranus when the otherwise invisible rings were observed to occult a background star. Occultations have also led to the discovery of more distant objects in space, such as binary stars and extrasolar planets. Compare transit.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Occultation

Oc`cul*ta"tion\, n. [L. occultatio a hiding, fr. occultare, v. intens. of occulere: cf.F. occultation. See Occult.]

1. (Astron.) The hiding of a heavenly body from sight by the intervention of some other of the heavenly bodies; -- applied especially to eclipses of stars and planets by the moon, and to the eclipses of satellites of planets by their primaries.

2. Fig.: The state of being occult.

The reappearance of such an author after those long periods of occultation. --Jeffrey.

Circle of perpetual occultation. See under Circle.

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