Ask A Scientist© Astronomy Archive

Author:      williamh
Text:        What is the velocity of the sun?
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Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      Ronald Winther
Text:        I am not quite sure what you mean by "the sun's velocity."  The 
sun rotates on its axis; a point on its equator makes one rotation in about 25 
Earth days, while near the poles it requires about 31 Earth days.  So a point 
on the sun's equator travels at about 4500 miles/hr. (By contrast, a point on 
the Earth's equator travels at about 1000 miles/hour).   Additionally, the sun 
(and the solar system) is revolving about the center of the Milky Way at about 
150 miles per *second* (that is over a half-million miles/hour!)
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