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Solar physics

When the tail wags the dog

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Solar eruptions are triggered by magnetic stress building up in the corona due to the motion of the Sun's dense surface. New observations reveal that these eruptions can, in turn, induce the rotational motion of sunspots.

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Figure 1: Typical features of a solar eruption that are linked to the location and timing of flare-induced differential rotation within sunspots.

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Correspondence to Guillaume Aulanier.

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Aulanier, G. When the tail wags the dog. Nature Phys 12, 998–999 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3938

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