The rotation of the Sun

Observations of solar rotation are reviewed. There are two basic methods of determining the rotation of the sun. One is to measure the daily or monthly positions of tracers on the surface or in the corona, and the other is to measure line‐of‐sight velocities with the Doppler effect in spectrum lines. The results of a number of investigations involving both methods are compared. The experimental and interpretational problems associated with observational determinations of solar rotation are reviewed and compared. The theoretical situation in this field is reviewed, including the significance of different rotation rates for surface magnetic features and the solar plasma. The rotation of the solar interior is discussed in terms of both model calculations and recent p mode oscillation rotation rates, which reflect the interior rotation.