The absorption of non-visible light rays and the emission of visible light or heat as a result, a phenomenon seen in certain phosphorescent materials.
From Latin 'calor' (heat) plus the suffix '-escence' (becoming or beginning to be). The term was coined in the 19th century to describe a specific optical phenomenon.
Calorescence is the weird opposite of fluorescence—instead of ultraviolet light making things glow visibly, infrared heat radiation gets converted into visible light, which is exactly what happens when you look at certain materials under a heat lamp.
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