An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A mechanism proposed by Eddington to explain → stellar pulsations. Same as the → kappa mechanism. In this analogy the stellar layer acts like a heat engine with radiation taking the role of stream. The expanding and contracting layer acts as the piston, and the opacity of the layer behaves as the valve mechanism (Eddington, 1917, The pulsation theory of → Cepheid variables, The Observatory 40, 290).

See also: → valve; → mechanism.