Sunspots and solar rotation
Manchas solares y rotación del Sol
- Date
- 1611 · confidence high
- Place
- Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany
- Credited to
- Christoph Scheiner; Galileo Galilei; Johannes Fabricius; Thomas Harriot
- People
- 👤 Christoph Scheiner1575–1650👤 Galileo Galilei1564–1642👤 Johannes Fabricius1587–1616👤 Thomas Harriot1560–1621
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Sunspots showed that the Sun is not perfect and that it rotates in about 27 days. Tracking them led to the discovery of the 11-year solar cycle (Schwabe, 1843).
Fabricius published first (1611); the Galileo-Scheiner dispute was bitter.
What it led to
- 11-year solar cycle
- Solar physics
- Maunder minimum and climate
Built on
Made possible
- Schwabe solar cycle1843
- Evershed effect in sunspots1909
- Helioscope
- Solar projection