Robert C. Moler Some of the most spectacular events seen in the sky occur when one celestial body hides another. The most spectacular of all is the total solar eclipse. However the total solar eclipse gets its beauty because the moon doesn't hide all of the sun. It just screens the sun's intense face allowing us to behold the fainter wonders of the sun's chromosphere and corona. When the moon covers a lesser body, in brightness that is, the event is called an occultation.
Occultation comes from the word occult, which means to hide.
We astronomers use the word occult as a verb. The moon can occult stars and planets, while planets and asteroids can occult stars. While astrologers make a big deal of planetary alignments that may or may not include the earth, I prefer alignments that I'm part of, be it solar eclipses or an occultation. Our observing spot on Prince Edward Islands was half a mile from being exactly in line with the center of the 865,000 mile diameter sun and the center of the 2,100 mile diameter moon. Aside from the privilege of being in line with great celestial bodies, timing such events has practical importance.