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A point at the Sun's equator takes 25 days to rotate, while points 15° from the Sun's north or south poles take about 34.3 days to complete one spin. This is known as differential rotation and probably is an effect of the gaseous makeup of the sun's outer layers. The Sun's spin, as measured at its equator, is about 7189 km/hr.

Because the Earth is orbiting the Sun, from Earth the rotation appears to take about 28 days, which is the average time for sunspots to make a complete spin.

Since the Sun is not solid, there's no reason that all of it has to rotate all in one

piece, and the fact is that it doesn't. When we look at the Sun's surface, we see

the equator rotating fastest, and the rotation slowing down as we look farther

from the equator and closer to the poles.

As the Sun consists of a plasma and is not solid, it rotates faster at its equator than at its poles.

This behavior is known as differential rotation, and is caused by convection in the Sun and the movement of mass, due to steep temperature gradients from the core outwards. This mass carries a portion of the Sun's counter-clockwise angular momentum, as viewed from the ecliptic north pole, thus redistributing the angular velocity.

The period of this actual rotation is approximately 25.6 days at the equator and 33.5 days at the poles. However, due to our constantly changing vantage point from the Earth as it orbits the Sun, the apparent rotation of the star at its equator is about 28 days.

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12y ago

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