Thread: The Sun's Axis

A layman's question: Why does the Sun have axial tilt of 7.25 instead of zero? I've read some theories which may explain why the Earth has a one, but I can't seem to find any for the sun.









Axial tilt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What that's really saying is why is Jupiter's orbit (As the primary contributer to the invariant plane) inclined 7 degrees to the rotation axis of the sun.

That 7.25 degree tilt is with respect to the ecliptic, which is the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. So it is really just an choice of convenience as to what reference we use to define axial tilt.

The actual question would be, why does the Earth orbit the Sun tilted 7.25 degrees to the Sun's axis. Most likely answer is uneven collisions during its formation.

Originally Posted by MrMojo1

A layman's question: Why does the Sun have axial tilt of 7.25 instead of zero? I've read some theories which may explain why the Earth has a one, but I can't seem to find any for the sun.

Axial tilt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have to keep in mind that just about everything in our solar system is being dragged through space by the sun. Just about everything in our solar system corkscrews around the sun.

Here, I found a video that might help explain some of it to you.. Some can argue with the reason/s as to why or how but, overall, it is a good video that should start you off down the right path.

Video Youtube

I almost didn't make it past the absurd exaggeration of the first 30 seconds, but the rest was very good. If they want my advice, I'd make that more realistic.

Wayne