ETYM Latin occultatio a hiding, from occultare, v. intens. of occulere: cf.French occultation. Related to Occult.
1. 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. Any act of occulting or concealing.
Concealing of one heavenly body by another.
In astronomy, the temporary obscuring of a star by a body in the solar system. Occultations are used to provide information about changes in an orbit, and the structure of objects in space, such as radio sources.
The exact shapes and sizes of planets and asteroids can be found when they occult stars. The rings of Uranus were discovered when that planet occulted a star 1977.