An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A sort of → greenhouse effect in → stellar atmospheres where the deeper layers heat up due to overlying → opacity. The presence of numerous → bound-bound opacities of → metals amplifies the → scattering of → photons, in particular their → backscattering, forcing the → temperature to increase in order to conserve the radiation flux and the transport of energy from the interior to the outer parts of the atmosphere.

See also: → back; → warming; → effect.