Immersion)] Occultations of planets and stars by the Moon may also be recommended to the notice of the owners of small telescopes as events which are constantly happening and which may be readily observed.
A table of the occultations of such stars, copied from the Nautical Almanac, will be found in such almanacs as Whitaker’s and the British.
The sun, of course, occults planets and stars in exactly the same manner as the moon does, but we cannot see these occultations on account of the blaze of sunlight.
Such occultationsand transits of satellites can be well observed in the telescope.
Bonpland and I passed the whole night in watching three occultations of the satellites of Jupiter.
At this time, or probably some time before, I bought a copy of the "American Ephemeris" for 1858, and amused myself by computing on a slate the occultationsvisible at San Francisco during the first few months of the year.
Occultations of some bright stars, such as Aldebaran and Antares, can be observed by the naked eye; and yet more easily can those of the planets be seen.
Much calculation is therefore necessary to decide the circumstances under which the occultations of stars may be visible from any particular station.
Having a taste for such computations, Flamsteed calculated the occultations which were to happen in the year 1670, it being the case that several remarkable stars would be passed over by the moon during this year.
A brief reference may here be made to a curious phenomenon sometimes seen in connection with occultations of stars by the Moon.
The principal difficulties of this method lie in the fact that comparatively few occultations occur, and those which do occur are usually of stars of the fifth magnitude or lower.
On June 24 a series of four occultations were observed; and the results of the observations showed an error in longitude of a whole degree.
For the purpose of checking the chronometers a number of observations of occultations were observed during the winter of 1915.
In July, August, and September further occultations were observed, and a fairly reliable rate was worked out for the chronometers and watches.
Their eclipses in the shadow of Jupiter, occultations or disappearances behind his disk, and the transits of the shadows as well as the moons themselves across the face of the planet can be easily seen even with the smallest telescope.
It is possible to observe all the phenomena of the satellite's transits and shadows, eclipses and occultations with very small telescopes.
Occultations of the stars are many and frequent as the huge planet globe glides swiftly through the heavens.
They had, as Alistotle says, for a long time devoted themselves to observations of star-occultations by the moon.
Otter" screens are used in cases when it is desired to produce different periods of occultations in two or more positions in azimuth in order to differentiate sectors marking shoals, &c.
With apparatus illuminated by gas the occultations may be produced by successively raising and lowering the gas at stated intervals.
Occultations are produced by a screen or series of screens rotated round the light by the ascending current of heated air and gases from the lamp acting upon a horizontal fan.
Eclipses of Deimos by the planet and occultations of it by the other satellite are very frequent.
And if the moon happens also to be totally eclipsed, the occultationsof quite faint stars can be successfully observed, much fainter than can ordinarily be seen close up to the moon.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "occultations" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
