What is the scientific term for an occurrence when one star is out-shined by another? I don't think eclipse is the correct term. I'm referring to when one star is not observationally visible because another star appears brighter and the former is lost from view because the latter's luminosity dominates the viewpoint.
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what is the astronomy term for this?
- Thread starter Melanie T
- Start date
G
Gog-Star
Guest
space hopping dust bunny.
A
A P
Guest
OCCULT is the term used in astronomy for a large celestial body concealing an apparently smaller body from view by passing or being in front of it.
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David D
Guest
If a binary star happens to orbit in a plane along our line of sight, its components will mutually eclipse and transit each other; these pairs are called eclipsing binaries, or, as they are detected by their changes in brightness during eclipses and transits, photometric binaries.
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Atheist Ad Infinitum
Guest
I believe you may be talking about a gravitational lens.
Gravitational lens
n.
A massive celestial object, such as a galaxy, whose gravity bends and focuses the light of a more distant object, resulting in a magnified, distorted, or multiple image of the original light source for a distant observer.
Gravitational lens
n.
A massive celestial object, such as a galaxy, whose gravity bends and focuses the light of a more distant object, resulting in a magnified, distorted, or multiple image of the original light source for a distant observer.
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David H
Guest
It can't happen. The stars' positions are effectively fixed in relation to each other (actually they are moving around, but it takes thousands of years for it to be noticeable). You do get occasions when the moon or one of the planets passes in front of a star, and that is called an occultation. If the moon or a bright planet such as Venus or Jupiter passes very close to say a 5th magnitude star without occulting it, but so that you can no longer see the star because of the light from the moon or planet, there is no term in astronomy for the phenomenon because it is biological, related to the acuity of your eyesight. A half-decent telescope will continue to show a bright disc (the moon or planet) and a dimmer point of light (the star).