ROTATION OF SUN'S CHROMOSPHERE MAPPED FOR 1st TIME BY INDIA'S IIA

IIA astronomers use 100 years of records from Kodaikanal Solar Observatory; study gives complete picture of Sun's inner workings

Using 100 years of daily records of the Sun at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an autonomous institute of DST, have succeeded in mapping, for the very first time, the variation in the rotation speed of the Sun's chromosphere -- from the equator right up to its polar regions.

The research, published in the Astrophysical Journal, can help give a complete picture of the Sun's inner workings.

Earth spins like a rigid ball, completing a full rotation every 24 hours. But the Sun, being a giant ball of plasma, has different parts that rotate at varied speeds, depending on their latitude.