An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A → dimensionless parameter indicating the degree to which a star is close to the → Eddington limit. It is expressed as Γ = L / L_Edd = κ L / (4πGMc), where L and M are the star luminosity and mass respectively, κ is the opacity, c the speed of light, and G the → gravitational constant.
At the Eddington limit, Γ = 1, the star would become unbound. Because stellar luminosity generally scales with a high power of the stellar mass (L∝ M^3-4), → massive stars with M larger than 10 Msun generally have electron Eddington parameters of order Γ ≅ 0.1-1.

See also: After Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944), prominent British astrophysicist; → parameter.