A few weeks ago, early morning stargazers watched as the waning crescent moon slipped silently in front of the brilliant planet Venus in a beautiful sky show known as an occultation.

Occultations of stars are equally interesting. They allow scientists to refine their knowledge of the moon's orbit and even to discover companion objects orbiting distant stars. In fact, a faint companion star orbiting the red supergiant Antares first showed up during a lunar occultation in the early 19th ...

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