A change in orbital momentum experienced by small rotating particles as a result of absorption and re-emission of solar radiation, similar to the Poynting–Robertson effect. Whereas the Poynting–Robertson effect is equal in all directions, the re-emission which causes the Yarkovsky effect is anisotropic. The object may be accelerated or decelerated by the momentum carried away by the radiated photons, depending on the spin direction. The effect is named after the Russian scientist Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky (1844–1902).