Editing Astronomical transit (section)

{{short description|Term in astronomy}}
{{About|the passage of one celestial body in front of another|the passage of a body over a meridian|Culmination|the passage of a star across the field of view of a telescope eyepiece|Star transit}}
[[File:Phobos transit in real color.webm|upright=1.5|thumb|[[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] transits the [[Sun]], as viewed by the [[Perseverance (rover)|''Perseverance'' rover]] on 2 April 2022]]

In [[astronomy]], a '''transit''' (or '''astronomical transit''') is the passage of a [[astronomical object|celestial body]] directly between a larger body and the observer. As viewed from a particular vantage point, the transiting body appears to move across the face of the larger body, [[eclipse|covering]] a small portion of it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transit|title=Definition of TRANSIT|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-16}}</ref>

The word "transit" refers to cases where the nearer object [[apparent size|appears]] smaller than the more distant object. Cases where the nearer object appears larger and completely hides the more distant object are known as [[occultation|''occultations'']].

However, the probability of seeing a transiting planet is low because it is dependent on the alignment of the three objects in a nearly perfectly straight line.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lco.global/spacebook/transit-method/|title=Transit Method {{!}} Las Cumbres Observatory|website=lco.global|language=en|access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref> Many parameters of  a planet and its parent star can be determined based on the transit.