# Does the sun rotate?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640 "2004-02-17T11:30:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Weeks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbce88/32.png) [@Weeks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeks)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/1 "2004-02-17T11:30:30Z")

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does it have an axis?

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/2 "2004-02-17T11:37:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> The Sun rotates on its axis once in about 27 days.

[http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sunturn.htm](http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sunturn.htm)

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/3 "2004-02-17T11:49:41Z")

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The 27-day rotation period is only true for the equator. The sun is a ball of gas and not a solid body, and the equatorial region rotates faster than the polar region (“differential rotation”). You can find some numbers in the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun). Gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, etc) also exhibit differential rotation.

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/4 "2004-02-17T11:59:26Z")

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The NASA article I provided uses the “_about_ 27 days” as a mean. The equitorial rotation takes only 24 days while the polar rotation takes 30.

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**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/5 "2004-02-17T12:16:30Z")

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> [@Libertarian](#):
>
> The NASA article I provided uses the “_about_ 27 days” as a mean. The equitorial rotation takes only 24 days while the polar rotation takes 30.

…and the different rotation periods cause the magentic field lines to bunch up which in turn gives rise to Sun Spots which attain maximum activity every 11 years - at which point the magnetic poles reverse.

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/6 "2004-02-17T12:24:29Z")

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> [@Libertarian](#):
>
> The NASA article I provided uses the “_about_ 27 days” as a mean. The equitorial rotation takes only 24 days while the polar rotation takes 30.

Oops sorry, rotation at the equator is about 27 days _relative to the earth_. It is indeed 24 days relative to the rest frame (i.e. the stars).

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**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sun-rotate/229640/7 "2004-02-17T12:35:42Z")

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**scr4** : Now you’re going to have to explain the difference between sidereal solar days and mean solar solar days. 😉