What term describes the Sun's different rotation rates at different latitudes?

The Sun’s different rotation rates at different latitudes are called differential rotation.

Unlike a solid object, the Sun is made of hot, electrically conducting plasma. Its equator rotates faster than regions near the poles: the equatorial rotation period is roughly 25 days relative to the stars, while the polar period is about 34 days. This latitude-dependent motion creates shear within the solar atmosphere and interior.

Astronomers first recognized solar rotation by tracking sunspots. Christoph Scheiner’s observations, published in 1630, showed that spots at different latitudes moved at different rates. Modern helioseismology extends the picture beneath the visible surface and reveals how rotation changes with both depth and latitude.

Differential rotation is more than a curious timing difference. Shearing motions help stretch and organize magnetic fields, contributing to the solar dynamo and the approximately 11-year sunspot cycle. The tachocline, a thin transition region below the convection zone, is especially important because it separates more nearly uniform internal rotation from the Sun’s differentially rotating outer layers.