Solar Disc

These nice groups of sunspots have been making the rotation of the Sun very easy to see. Being made up of gas the Sun rotates at different speeds from the poles to the equator. At the poles it takes about 35-36 days to complete one rotation whereas at the equator it whizzes round in about 25 days. This differential is a major factor in how the Sun's magnetic field gets distorted and leads to the formation of sunspots.