ABSTRACT
Bodies revolving around radiation sources in the solar system (the Sun, planets, etc.) partly absorb the radiation and later reemit this energy in the infrared band. When the orbiting body is larger than a few centimeters (typically), permanent temperature gradients on its surface may be established as a result of a different orientation of its parts toward the central object. The thermal radiation from the hotter parts on the surface carries away more energy, and thus more linear momentum, than from the cooler parts. The overall imbalance of the recoil effects of the thermal radiation is called the Yarkovsky effect/force. We review the present state of art of the Yarkovsky force modelling as well as some recent applications. We also give an outlook of the forthcoming work where the Yarkovsky effect might play an important role.