Rare encounter of celestial bodies

Skygazers watched a rare celestial event when the moon came between Earth and Mars. The phenomenon is known as occultation.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021

An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The term is often used in astronomy.

If the closer body does not entirely conceal the farther one, the event is called a transit. Both transit and occultation may be referred to generally as occlusion; and if a shadow is cast onto the observer, it is called an eclipse.

The term occultation is most frequently used to describe those relatively frequent occasions when the Moon passes in front of a star during the course of its orbital motion around the Earth.