Solar rotation

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Solar rotation varies with latitude. The Sun is not a solid body, but is composed of a gaseous plasma. Different latitudes rotate at different periods. The source of this differential rotation is an area of current research in solar astronomy.^[1] The rate of surface rotation is observed to be the fastest at the equator (latitude φ = 0°) and to decrease as latitude increases. The solar rotation period is 25.67 days at the equator and 33.40 days at 75 degrees of latitude.^[2]

The Carrington rotation^{[clarification needed]} at the time this article was loaded, 17 June 2024 12:41:47 (UTC), was CR2285.