Rotation period
(of a celestial object) time that it takes to complete one revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the background stars From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In astronomy, a rotation period is the time an astronomical object takes to complete one revolution around its rotation axis relative to the background stars. For the Earth this is a sidereal day. It is different from a solar day, which is measured by the passage of the Sun across the local meridian.
All celestial objects spin.[1][2][3] The rotation period differs according to whether the body in question is solid or fluid (gaseous). A solid object has one value, but a fluid object such as a star spins differently at the poles compared to the equator (Sun: about 25 days at the equator and about 35 days near the poles).[4][5]
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Other websites
- "MIRA". Jupiter. Retrieved 2005-05-24.
References
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