Science & history · An active star
The Sun spins faster at its equator
A solid ball turns all of a piece. The Sun is not solid, and different latitudes go round at different rates.
Differential rotation
NASA gives one rotation in 25 Earth days at the equator and about 36 at the poles. A sunspot is carried round with the gas at its latitude, which is why spots drift across the disc from day to day.
Helioseismology, which reads the Sun's interior from the way its surface oscillates, shows that this difference between equator and poles extends inward and then rapidly disappears at the base of the convection zone. A solid ball could not turn like that.
Sources
- NASA Sun: Facts (opens in a new tab) for age, size, distance, temperatures, layers, rotation, cycle, type, future · checked 2 October 2026
- NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Helioseismology (opens in a new tab) for the equator-to-pole rotation difference extends inward and disappears at the base of the convection zone · checked 2 October 2026