Gravity darkening, also referred to as gravity brightening, is an astronomical phenomenon where a star rotates so rapidly that it has a detectably oblate spheroid shape, such as in Regulus in the constellation Leo.
When a star is oblate, it has a larger radius at its equator than it does at its poles. As a result, the poles have a higher surface gravity, and thus higher temperature and brightness. Thus, the poles are "gravity brightened", and the equator "gravity darkened".
The star becomes oblate (and hence gravity darkening occurs) because the centrifugal force resulting from rotation creates additional outward pressure on the star. The centrifugal force is expressed mathematically as
where