The sun rotates on an axis inclined about 71⁄2° from a perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. The average period of its rotation is about 251⁄3 days—we say “average” because, not being a solid body, different parts of its surface turn at different rates. It rotates faster at the equator than at latitudes north-and-south of the equator, the velocity decreasing toward the poles. The period of rotation at the equator is about 25 days, and at 40° north or south of the equator it is about 27 days. The direction of rotation is the same as that of the earth's.