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Planets orbit the Sun while moons orbit around planets. The amount of time required for a planet or moon to complete one orbit around another body is called an orbital period. On Earth, we call this orbital period a year. Our year is 365.256 days. On Mars it takes 686.98 days (Earth days, that is) to complete one orbit about the Sun--that's a long time to wait between birthdays!
Letâs look at how the rotation of the Sun changes. A spot on the equator of the Sun takes 24.47 days to rotate around the Sun and return to the same position. Astronomers call this sidereal rotation period, which is different from the synodic period â the amount of time it takes for a spot on the Sun to rotate back to face the Earth. But the Sunâs rotation rate decreases as you approach the poles, so it can actually take 38 days for regions around the poles to rotate once. The Sunâs rotation is seen by observing sunspots. All sunspots move across the face of the Sun. This motion is part of the general rotation of the Sun on its axis. Observations also indicate that the Sun does not rotate as a solid body, but it spins differentially. That means that it rotates faster at the equator of the Sun and slower at its poles.