Solar Sphere with Angular Rotation

Frame 1

This image, taken using the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on board the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, begins a display of the speed of rotation of material in the Sun, with rotation rate being depicted in colors. The bulk of the Sun rotates at a rate colored between yellow and the orange-red at about 30 degrees latitude. Red represents faster-than-average flows, yellow is slower than average, and blue is slower yet.

Movie frames 2 to 61 show the sphere rotating around to reveal a cut into the sphere. The sides of the cut show the rotation rate as it varies with depth into the Sun and with latitude.

(Photo Credit: Stanford University)