Glossary term: 掩星
Description: 掩星是指一个天体将另一个天体完全遮住。从地球上看，月球经常从恒星前面经过。我们称这些恒星被月球掩星。太阳系中的其他天体偶尔也会掩一些亮星。
掩星有助于研究遥远的柯伊伯带天体的大气层。当这些冰冻天体掩星时，来自恒星的光线会短暂穿过柯伊伯带天体的大气层。当这些光线到达地球时，就会带有柯伊伯带天体大气层的光谱特征。
若一个天体从另一个天体前方经过，但并没有完全遮挡住另一个天体，则我们称之为凌星。
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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
