Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Differential Rotation and the Solar Oblateness

Abstract

A few weeks ago, Dr I. W. Roxburgh questioned an earlier argument by Professor R. H. Dicke that the observed flattening of the Sun would account for part of the rotation of the orbit of Mercury otherwise attributable to general relativity. Roxburgh advanced arguments which suggest that the surface of the Sun may not be an equipotential surface, largely because of turbulence in the atmosphere. Dicke now rejects this interpretation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Roxburgh, I. W., Nature, 213, 1077 (1967).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dicke, R. H., and Goldenberg, H. M., Phys. Rev. Lett., 18, 313 (1967).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Dicke, R. H., Nature, 202, 432 (1964).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Minnaert, M., The Sun (edit. by Euiper, G. P.), 129 (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1953).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Schatzman, E., I.A.U. symposium No. 10, 15, 16 August, 1958, Annales d. Astrophys., suppl., 8, 129 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Brandt, J. C., Astrophys. J., 144, 1221 (1966).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Weber, E. J., and Davis, jun., L., Astrophys. J., 148, 217 (1967).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Deutsch, A. J., Science, 156, 236 (1967).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Brault, J. W., thesis, Princeton Univ. (1962).

  10. Athay, R. G., Astrophys. J., 138, 680 (1963).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Eddington, A. S., The Internal Composition of the Stars (1926); reprinted by Dover Publications, 282 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DICKE, R., GOLDENBERG, H. Differential Rotation and the Solar Oblateness. Nature 214, 1294–1296 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/2141294a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2141294a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing