Ionizing radiation through the photoelectric effect and the Compton effect. Either of those interactions will cause the ejection of an electron from an atom at relativistic speeds, turning that electron into a beta particle (secondary beta particle) that will ionize many other atoms. Since most of the affected atoms are ionized directly by the secondary beta particles, photons are called indirectly ionizing radiation. Photon radiation is called gamma rays if produced by a nuclear reaction, subatomic particle decay, or radioactive decay within the nucleus. It is otherwise called x-rays if produced outside the nucleus. The generic term photon is therefore used to
Poynting–Robertson effect affecting dust grains from 1 µm to 1 mm in diameter. Larger dust is likely to collide with another object long before such drag can have an effect. Poynting initially gave a description of the effect in 1903 based on the "luminiferous aether" theory, which was superseded by the theories of relativity in 1905–1915. In 1937 Robertson described the effect in terms of general relativity. Robertson considered dust motion in a beam of radiation emanating from a point source. A. W. Guess later considered the problem for a spherical source of radiation and found that for particles far from the