An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A type of → luminescence in which photons of lower energy are emitted as the result of absorption of energy by an atom or molecule from other radiation. The phenomenon lasts as long as the stimulus responsible for it is present.

See also: Coined by English mathematician and physicist Sir George G. Stokes (1819-1903) from fluor-, from → fluorspar, + → -escence, a suffix of nouns denoting action or process, change, state or condition, etc.