A bright star will disappear for up to an hour tonight — here's what's happening

If you live in the middle Atlantic or southeast part of the United States, you'll have an opportunity tonight (April 25), to see a 70% illuminated waxing gibbous moon gradually drift toward and ultimately hide the 1st-magnitude star, Regulus , the brightest star of the constellation Leo the Lion . This event is called an occultation , a word that is derived from the Latin occultāre, which means literally "to conceal." And if you are fortunate enough to live in the zone of visibility for this …