An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The → momentum carried by → photons to a surface exposed to → electromagnetic radiation. Stellar radiation pressure on big and massive objects is insignificant, but it has considerable effects on → gas and → dust particles. Radiation pressure is particularly important for → massive stars. See, for example, → Eddington limit, → radiation-driven wind , and
→ radiation-driven implosion. The → solar radiation pressure is also at the origin of various physical phenomena, e.g. → gas tails in → comets and → Poynting-Robertson effect.

See also: → radiation; → pressure.