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Poynting-Robertson effect

American  
[poin-ting-rob-ert-suhn] / ˈpɔɪn tɪŋˈrɒb ərt sən /

noun

Astronomy.

  1. the slowing down and consequent spiraling inward of small particles orbiting the sun, due to their interaction with solar radiation.

Etymology

Origin of Poynting-Robertson effect

1955–60; after English physicist John H. Poynting (1852–1914) and U.S. physicist Howard P. Robertson (1903–61)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.