Talk:Solar rotation

message: I've added an automatically updating number for the Carrington Rotation. This is based on the equation given in Meenus and used by sunpy. This estimated rotation may be off by about .16 days. If the current rotation doesn't match the list of start/stop times, please let me know and I will take a look. Blablabliam (talk) 20:22, 13 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Current Carrington Rotation 

message: Someone should check the formula. Maybe a sign is wrong? It implies that rotation is faster, not slower, at the poles! Axel 20:56, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The formula at the top of this article 

message: I think the current setup of this article needs a better lead such as an intro section. As it is, the first sentnence dives into arcane details about how much the rotation rate varies with solar latitude. The intro above the TOC ought to set up what question the article intends to answer, such as:
The sun rotates on an axis through its center that is inclined slightly from perpendicular to the [plane of the ecliptic]. Because it is gaseous, the rotation rate is not constant across the whole surface.Birdbrainscan (talk) 08:19, 29 October 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes. Also, the "slight" offset from the ecliptic is more like 7 degrees, I believe, so totally worth mentioning, including later in the article, that this presents a challenge to the nebular hypothesis, since the Sun should be spinning with the ecliptic, AND with 98% or so of the system's angular momentum, whereas the planets have that large amount, and the sun only has 2% or so of the angular momentum, another challenge to the nh. Bob Enyart, Denver KGOV radio host  (talk) 23:04, 2 August 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Need simpler opener 

message: The article does not give any theories or fluid dynamic explanations of why the rotation rate varies with latitude.  Such an explanation could be referenced by the gas giants as well.  Cantorman (talk) 17:42, 13 August 2011 (PDT)
: The current opening sentence isn't great either. "Solar rotation varies with latitude because the Sun is composed of a gaseous plasma." is not obviously true: single component plasmas in Penning traps are very well approximated as rigid rotors 137.138.11.229 (talk) 15:24, 6 November 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: ... Differential rotation says "Differential rotation is caused by convection in stars which is a movement of mass, due to steep temperature gradients from the core outwards. This mass carries a portion of the star’s angular momentum, thus redistributing the angular velocity, possibly even far enough out for the star to lose angular velocity in stellar winds. Differential rotation thus depends on temperature differences in adjacent regions." Sadly no inline cites. - Rod57 (talk) 17:47, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  But Why does the rotation rate vary with latitude ? 

message: What is the orientation of the solar angular momentum relative to that of the planets? --Rainald62 (talk) 17:54, 28 December 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orientation 

message: I am proposing that Bartel's Rotation Number and Carrington rotation be merged into this article, as they are barely notable by themselves and would do better in this article. Primefac (talk) 17:45, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge [[Bartels' Rotation Number]] and [[Carrington rotation]] into this article (proposal) 

message: That's all.--Ivan T. (talk) 00:26, 29 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Better to merge something of both into the other 

message: This article could also decribe how the solar rotation is related to the travel of Sun around Milky Way center. For example: one line is from center of galaxy to the center of Sun, second line is the axis of Sun's rotation. What is angle between these two lines?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mlok2008 (talk • contribs) 05:27, 6 January 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Solar apex is about 30 degrees north of the Ecliptic which is within a few degrees of the solar equator. I don't see how it's relevant here. Jim.henderson (talk) 16:12, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

text: My error; Solar apex is about 30 degrees from elliptic pole, thus 60 from equator. Jim.henderson (talk) 17:11, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Larger Picture 

message: There are two videos on the page. Both are not the best in showing solar rotation. Couldn't there be one, which is a full rotation of the sun, without any moon or other confusing matter? Also, an example video would be better in white-light or similar, rather than an obscure false-colour image of something in the far UV or IR.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.90.243.186 (talk) 21:40, 5 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Better videos 

message: The graph clearly shows the rotation period near the Sun's poles to be 34 days, not "almost 38 days".   Also, the graph implies the average rotation period is closer to 29 days, not 28. 
However, a good reference to cite is Thompson et al. (2003), Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 41, 599-643.  They write that the Sun's surface rotation goes from ~ 25 days at the equator to ~ 36 days at the poles.  So maybe the graph is problematic, too?
66.24.161.152 (talk) 17:57, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi. Thanks for pointing this out. Per the source you mention as well as those already referenced in the article, surface-rotation rates depend on what features are being tracked. The inconsistencies you mention appear to be due to editors referencing values derived with different methods. I hope to address this issue soon, but I have added Template:Confusing for now. CoronalMassAffection (talk) 22:58, 22 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  The actual numbers given in the first paragraph are inconsistent with the graph shown nearby