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A broad term that can be defined as the significant lessening in brightness of one body due to the motion of one or more others. Eclipses belong to a class of phenomena more properly called occultations (literally, the 'hiding' of one body by another), but there are three classes of occultation universally referred to as 'eclipses':
- A large body passing between the Sun and an observer, cutting off or reducing its light. Solar eclipses as observed on Earth belong to this type.
- The Earth's shadow passing across the face of the Moon, a relatively common occurrence known as a lunar eclipse.
- One element of a binary star system passing in front of the other, thereby reducing the magnitude of the entire system.
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