{"id":10,"date":"2025-03-02T05:51:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T05:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/home\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T08:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:46:09","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" id=\"hero\">\n<div class=\"nfd-stretch-cover-child nfd-bg-gray-800 wp-block-cover\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-19\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&#038;ssl=1\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.jpeg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-70 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#4e4d49\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"nfd-px-base nfd-grow nfd-w-full md:nfd-border-none alignfull is-style-default wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-afc903cf wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-top-style:none;border-top-width:0px;border-right-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white);border-right-width:32px;border-bottom-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white);border-bottom-width:32px;border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white);border-left-width:32px\">\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"nfd-my-0 wp-block-spacer wp-container-content-95b39f08\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"nfd-text-current nfd-text-giga md:nfd-text-left md:nfd-no-br wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"nfd-text-md md:nfd-justify-start md:nfd-self-start wp-block-group is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d5209ea4 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"md:nfd-text-left has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14.082px, 0.88rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.54), 21px);\">Supporting amateur astronomical <strong>Occultation <\/strong>observers in Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"nfd-p-md nfd-pb-lg nfd-container nfd-bg-surface nfd-theme-white nfd-gap-xl is-style-nfd-theme-white wp-block-group alignfull is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-81828466 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"nfd-container nfd-p-md nfd-theme-white nfd-bg-surface is-style-nfd-theme-white wp-block-group is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-f5a44f5b wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-container-core-column-is-layout-1a0eff7f wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<h6 class=\"nfd-text-contrast nfd-text-huge nfd-text-balance wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">What is an Occultation?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The principal of an occultation is shown in the You Tube video below from ESO. <strong>Credit:<\/strong> ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Animation of the principle of the occultation\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9F5dqgal5Mc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-container-core-column-is-layout-a77db08e wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:470px\">\n<p class=\"nfd-text-faded nfd-text-balance nfd-text-md has-text-align-left\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\">Occultations occur when one celestial object passes in front of another celestial object. For example, when the Moon or a planet or asteroid passes in front of a background star, light from the background star is prevented from reaching the Earth. A shadow of the Moon is cast by the star onto the Earth, and this shadow sweeps across the Earth at roughly the same speed as the Moon is moving. A special case of an occultation is a&nbsp;<em>Total Solar Eclipse<\/em>, in which the Moon passes in front of the Sun, obscuring it from view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\" class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/occultations.org.nz\/planet\/planoccs.htm\">Planetary Occultations<\/a>&nbsp;occur when planets or minor planets (asteroids) pass in front of background stars. Typically, these events are much shorter than Lunar Occultations because the apparent size of a planet or asteroid is much small than the apparent size of the Moon in our sky. However, some of the most important discoveries in planetary astronomy have been made via planetary occultations &#8211;&nbsp;<em>e.g.<\/em>&nbsp;the rings of Uranus, and the atmosphere of Pluto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Observing Occultations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"nfd-my-0 nfd-text-current md:nfd-border-none wp-block-group alignfull has-black-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" id=\"faq\" style=\"border-top-style:none;border-top-width:0px;border-right-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white);border-right-width:32px;border-bottom-style:none;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--white);border-left-width:32px;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is an Occultation? The principal of an occultation is shown in the You Tube video below from ESO. Credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada Occultations occur when one celestial object passes in front of another celestial object. For example, when the Moon or a planet or asteroid passes in front of a background star, light from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-left","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"home","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Home - Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occultations.org.nz\/website_d9bc6b2c\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Home - Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is an Occultation? The principal of an occultation is shown in the You Tube video below from ESO. Credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada Occultations occur when one celestial object passes in front of another celestial object. 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