apparitions

Noun

apparition (plural apparitions)

1. An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.
   • the sudden apparition of the Spaniards1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC
2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.
   • […] which apparition, it seems, was you.1709 August 26 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele et al.], “Monday, August 16, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 55; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The...
3. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; especially, one by a ghost, phantom, or suchlike; the entity itself.
   • The region's economy is buoyed by tourism driven by past apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

   Synonyms:

   vision

4. The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured; opposed to occultation.
5. A period of consecutive days or nights when a particular celestial body may be observed, beginning with the heliacal rising of the body and ending with its heliacal setting.