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Science 29 May 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5931, p. 1143
DOI: 10.1126/science.1170433
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Technical Comments

Response to Comment on "A Large Excess in Apparent Solar Oblateness Due to Surface Magnetism"

M. D. Fivian,1,* H. S. Hudson,1 R. P. Lin,1,2 H. J. Zahid1,3

Our analysis of satellite data from the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Spectroscopic Imager revealed a strong correlation with a magnetic proxy, leading to an anomalous increase of the solar oblateness. We modeled this effect to yield an oblateness measurement of an assumed underlying nonmagnetic Sun. Kuhn et al. note that this measurement could be confused with a systematic spatial brightness variation. The existing data on this are ambiguous.

1 Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Physics Department, University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
3 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI 96822, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mfivian{at}ssl.berkeley.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)