Gravitational fields...?

Question

Okay, so all the planets and their moons rotate, and thus generate a gravitational field (at least I think that is what creates it). So does this mean that the Sun is rotating as well? Okay so it is apparently firey gas and liquids on the outside at impossibly hot temperatures, but does it mean that there may be a rotating core inside??

Thank you for such informed answers. I feel enlighted...

Answer 1

gravity is a function of mass, not rotation.

However- the sun does rotate as well. In fact- if you look at it (through appropriately blocked binoculars) you can clearly see sunspots on its surface. ... and you can see the rotation of the sun as they move across the apparent surface (if you look every day).

Oh- the rotation period is about 24.6 days.

Answer 2

Interesting logical train of thought there, but as has been pointed out, it is the sun's mass that generates its gravitational fields, not its rotation.

Nonetheless, the Sun does actually rotate as you stated. :)

The reason for the planets' rotation (and their motion in the same plane) is because, when the Solar System was forming, all the matter which eventually became the planets formed into an accretion disk surrounding the sun, according to now established theories on how this system came to be. Most of the planets in the system move in the same direction around the sun, and most of them rotate in the same direction as the Earth, with some notable exceptions, these being:

- Venus, whose day is actually longer than its year;

- Uranus, which has been turned on its side, and has an axial tilt of almost 90 degrees (the Earth's is around 23 degrees);

- and Pluto, which has a very eccentric orbit that sometimes takes it inside the orbit of Neptune, and which, to me, is still very much a planet.

I'm enclosing links you can follow to read up on the Solar System and the Sun, and how the nature of gravity was discovered by Newton and Einstein, among other links.

Answer 3

Mass is the predominant generator of a gravitational field. The fact that the sun has gravity doesn't mean it rotates. Though somewhat unrelated, a rotating mass DOES influence the gravitational field according to general relativity. This theory, put forth be Einstein, is being tested by Gravity Probe B, which launched about 2 years ago.

Answer 4

It's not the rotation of the planets and sun that generates their gravity fields. Gravity is generated simply by the mere presence of mass, rotating or not.

The sun does indeed rotate, but because it's not a solid body its rotational velocities vary. At its poles the sun rotates once every 36 days, while down at the equator it rotates once ever 25 days.

Answer 5

Rotation has nothing to do with gravity but rotation does have a lot to do with the magnetic field of a planet.

Gravity is all down to the mass of a planet or star

Answer 6

Gravity has nothing do do with rotation, it's all to do with mass.

As for the sun rotating, it rotates in about 25 days at its equator, this is the fastest spinning part.

The temperature of the surface of the sun is not at all impossibly hot either, it's at about 6,000 degrees Celcius. Inside the sun, it's believed that there are convection currents in the plasma (for that's what the sun consists of), and plasma is the name for hot, ionised gas.

That's a lot of leads for you to follow up ;o)

Answer 7

Although the sun does "rotate," rotation doesnt cause gravitational fields. It does have an effect on them though.

Answer 8

Mercury and Venus do not have any moons, however they have an orbit around the sun. Sorry I know that this is not helping much, but science isn't my bag!

Answer 9

It's mass that generates gravity - not rotation.

The link below details all that you'll probably need to know - and much more besides......

Answer 10

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrmmmmm,in the cupboard.