Our Sun
The sun is a huge sphere of incandescent plasma. It is the core of our solar system which provides all the energy required for life on earth. Everything in our solar system including eight planets and their moons, many dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, stars and space dust orbit around the sun. Our sun is one star among billions in The Milky Way Galaxy which all share a revolving pattern. The Milky Way Galaxy is one of many galaxies which make up our universe.
The sun's rotation rate can be observed by sunspots. All sunspots move across the face of the sun which is part of the general rotation of the sun on its axis. Scientific observations have discovered that the sun does not rotate as a solid but rather moves faster at its equator and slower at its poles. Movement of sunspots prove that the sun rotates once every 27 days at the equator and once every 31 days at its poles. The equation for the sun's equatorial rotation is shown in the image below.
Sunspot cycles have been observed and monitored for hundreds of years. To count the number of sunspots on the surface of the sun at any one time, scientists calculate the number of sunspot groups and then the number of individual spots. The sunspot number is then given by the sum of the individual sunspots and ten times the number of groups. Monthly averages recorded by astrologers show an eleven year cycle of fluxuating sunspots. Sunspots are active regions where the sun's magnetic field rise up from underneath the surface and break, causing dark patches. They are constantly changing and moving with the rotation and magnetic pull of the sun. Solar flares are created by sudden bursts of intense radiation from the surface of the sun which correspond with sun spots. The energy left from sun spots can cause solar flares and vise-vera. The below images show the rotation of the sun by its changing sunspots.