Abstract
Recent measurements of the oblateness of the Sun have been used to determine its quadrupole moment and thus its effect on the perihelion of Mercury. It is shown that these calculations could well be incorrect and that the measured oblateness is that expected if the Sun is slowly rotating throughout, since the surface is not one of constant potential.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dicke, R. H., Phys. Rev. Lett. (in the press).
Dicke, R. H., Nature, 202, 432 (1964).
Roxburgh, I. W., Icarus, 3, 92 (1964).
Chandrasekhar, S., Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability (Oxford Univ. Press, 1961).
Weiss, N. O., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 256, 99 (1964).
Unno, W., Pub. Ast. Soc. Japan, 13, 276 (1961).
Ledoux, P., Schwartzschild, M., and Speigel, E. A., Astrophys. J., 133, 184 (1961).
Roxburgh, I. W. (to be published).
Schwarzschild, M., Structure and Evolution of the Stars, 259 (Princeton Univ. Press, 1958).
Allen, C. W., Astrophysical Quantities, 164 (Athlone Press, 1963).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ROXBURGH, I. Implications of the Oblateness of the Sun. Nature 213, 1077–1078 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/2131077a0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2131077a0
This article is cited by
-
Second order gravitational field theories with hilbert gauge
Meccanica (1975)
-
Temperature variations in the solar photosphere
Solar Physics (1973)
-
A classification of particle motions in the equatorial plane of a gravitational monopole-quadrupole field in Newtonian mechanics and general relativity
Celestial Mechanics (1972)
-
Eddy Viscosity and the Solar Radiation
Nature (1971)
-
Inhomogeneous convection and the equatorial acceleration of the sun
Solar Physics (1971)
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.
