Does the Sun Rotate? Exploring the Sun’s Rotation and Other Sun Facts

KOMPAS.com – Earth and other planets in the solar system revolve around the sun and the sun is always in the same position. This gives the impression that the sun is static and does not move or rotate.

However, is it true that the sun does not rotate? If the sun rotates, does it rotate the same as the planets in the solar system?

Sun rotation

Yes, the sun also rotates, like most of the planets in the solar system. The sun’s rotation is counterclockwise, slower than the Earth’s rotation, and the sun’s rotation is much more complex.

Also read: What is the Solar Storm Phenomenon?

Reporting from Space, the knowledge that the sun rotates comes from the time of Galileo Galilei. Together with several earlier astronomers, Galileo had observed dark spots on the sun, which were called sunspots, and understood them to be an important part of the solar cycle.

Galileo also noticed something else. He found these dark spots seemed to move, disappear, and return when he studied the sun through his telescope.

Using sunspots, Galileo finally discovered that the sun rotates.

To this day, astronomers and solar system scientists use sunspots and other features on the sun’s surface to measure its rotation. However, much remains to be learned about the sun’s rotation. Mainly, the difference with the Earth’s rotation.

Also read: Why Doesn’t The Sun Twinkle Like Other Stars?

Other Sun Facts

Summarized from NASA and Universe Today, here are some interesting facts about the Sun that many may not know.

1. The sun is made of gas

The Sun is made of superheated electrically charged gas called plasma, which rotates at different speeds in different parts of the Sun.

At the equator, the Sun completes one rotation in 25 Earth days. At the poles, the Sun rotates once on its axis every 36 Earth days.

2. It has no moon

The sun has no moon, but is orbited by eight planets, five dwarf planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and perhaps three trillion comets and icy bodies.

Also read: What Does the Sun Sound Like?

3. Source of life on Earth

Nothing can live on the Sun, but the Sun’s energy is essential for the survival of most life on Earth.

4. The temperature of the Sun’s core is about 15 million degrees C

The temperature at the core of the Sun is 15 million degrees Celsius, hot enough to sustain nuclear fusion. This temperature creates the external pressure that supports the giant mass of the star and keeps it from collapsing.

5. The sun is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium

If the Sun could be taken apart and its different elements stacked, we would find that 74 percent of its mass comes from hydrogen, 24 percent from helium, and the remaining 2 percent includes trace amounts of iron, nickel, oxygen and all the other elements present in the Solar System.

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2023-07-13 13:00:00
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