Cluster observations of energetic electron acceleration within earthward reconnection jet and associated magnetic flux rope

Abstract

High-speed jets created by the magnetic reconnection process are one of the major source regions of suprathermal/energetic electrons in astrophysical plasmas. The near-Earth space, particularly magnetotail, is an ideal place to make experimental observations of the regions where those electrons are accelerated (Birn et al., 2012;Sitnov et al., 2019). Statistical studies have shown that highest electron fluxes are occurring closer to the Earth where the magnetic field gets more dipolar (Åsnes et al., 2008;Luo et al., 2011). According to observations and numerical simulations one of important driver of electron energization is the reconnection process that allows electron acceleration both close to the reconnection site as well as in the regions of outflow jets (