In-Situ Observations of Reconnection in Space

Paschmann, G.; Øieroset, M.; Phan, T. D.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-7413-6_12

Cited by 55 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 166 publications

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“…The first phase of the mission studies the magnetopause. This region has been observed at lower resolution [Paschmann et al, 2013] and studied with numerical simulations and analytic analysis [e.g., Shay et al, 1998;Hesse and Winske, 1998;Birn et al, 2001;Drake et al, 2006;Lapenta et al, 2006;Cassak and Shay, 2007;Burch and Drake, 2009]. Figure 1 displays two examples of magnetic reconnection observed by MMS that have been previously published.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Drift waves, intense parallel electric fields, and turbulence associated with asymmetric magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause

Ergun

Chen

Wilder

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Observations of magnetic reconnection at Earth's magnetopause often display asymmetric structures that are accompanied by strong magnetic field (B) fluctuations and large‐amplitude parallel electric fields (E||). The B turbulence is most intense at frequencies above the ion cyclotron frequency and below the lower hybrid frequency. The B fluctuations are consistent with a thin, oscillating current sheet that is corrugated along the electron flow direction (along the X line), which is a type of electromagnetic drift wave. Near the X line, electron flow is primarily due to a Hall electric field, which diverts ion flow in asymmetric reconnection and accompanies the instability. Importantly, the drift waves appear to drive strong parallel currents which, in turn, generate large‐amplitude (~100 mV/m) E|| in the form of nonlinear waves and structures. These observations suggest that turbulence may be common in asymmetric reconnection, penetrate into the electron diffusion region, and possibly influence the magnetic reconnection process.

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Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Drift waves, intense parallel electric fields, and turbulence associated with asymmetric magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause

Ergun

Chen

Wilder

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…We found the mass dependence only in the anisotropy of earthward flow and do not find this feature in the tailward flow. A location of the near-Earth X line was estimated to be at À10 > X > À30 R E [Nagai, 2006;Sergeev et al, 2007;Paschmann et al, 2013]. So that considering the observation region in our study (À16 > X > À20 R E ) during the periods of tailward flows, the distance between the Cluster S/C and the acceleration source is less than 10 R E (if the Cluster S/C is at its apogee at X =~19 R E and the acceleration source is located at its nearest estimated position at X =~10 R E ).…”

Section: Mass Dependence Of the Anisotropymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of strong energetic ion acceleration in the near-Earth magnetotail

Luo

Kronberg

Григоренко

et al. 2014

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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Until now it is still questionable whether ions are accelerated to energies above 100 keV in the near-Earth current sheet (CS), in the vicinity of a possible near-Earth neutral line. By using 11 years of 3-D energetic ion flux data for protons, helium, and oxygen (~150 keV-1 MeV) from the RAPID instrument on board Cluster 4, we statistically study the energetic ion acceleration by investigating ion anisotropies in the near-Earth magnetotail (À20 R E < X <À16 R E ). It is found that the earthward (tailward) anisotropy of the energetic (>150 keV) ions (protons, He + , and O + ) tend to become higher as the earthward (tailward) plasma bulk flows (measured by Cluster Ion Spectrometry experiment) become stronger. During such periods the presence of a strong acceleration source tailward (earthward) of Cluster spacecraft (S/C) is confirmed by the hardening energy spectra of the earthward (tailward) energetic ion flows. A good statistical correlation between tailward bulk flow, negative Bz, and the tailward anisotropy of energetic ions indicates that the strong ion acceleration might be related to a near-Earth reconnection, which occurred earthward of the Cluster S/C. The energetic ion anisotropies do not show a clear dependence on the AE index, which may indicate that the acceleration source(s) for the energetic ions could be spatially localized.

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“…near-Earth space and simulations (see the reviews by Fuselier and Lewis [2011] and Paschmann et al [2011]). Also note that we are not considering any possible plasma β dependence of the reconnection efficiency [e.g., Sonnerup, 1974] due to the present absence of a rigorously tested description of this effect, which may lead to a typically lower efficiency at Saturn's magnetopause.…”

Section: 1002/2014gl059288mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the major challenges of magnetospheric science is to understand how energy flows through each planetary magnetosphere in our Solar System. In the context of Earth's magnetosphere, magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause boundary of the magnetosphere allows solar wind energy into the system, and is the major driver of terrestrial magnetospheric dynamics [Dungey, 1961] (see the reviews by Vasyliunas [1975], Russell [1976], Fuselier and Lewis [2011], and Paschmann et al [2011]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can magnetopause reconnection drive Saturn's magnetosphere?

Masters

Fujimoto

Hasegawa

et al. 2014

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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While solar wind-driven compression of Saturn's magnetosphere is an important trigger of magnetospheric dynamics, the importance of magnetopause reconnection has been the subject of debate. Here we use Cassini observations at Saturn's magnetopause to address this open issue. Measured conditions at the boundary suggest a typical reconnection electric field strength of order 0.01 mV m À1 . Although the strongest reconnection electric fields correspond to a compressed magnetosphere, compressed conditions do not guarantee a relatively strong reconnection electric field at the magnetopause location sampled by the spacecraft. By considering northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF), we predict reconnection voltages (open magnetic flux production rates) for the strongest driving of Saturn's magnetosphere by magnetopause reconnection. The typical northward IMF reconnection voltage is less than 100 kV for a wide range of reconnection X line lengths. This suggests that magnetopause reconnection is not a major driver of dynamics in Saturn's magnetosphere, except possibly on rare occasions.

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In-Situ Observations of Reconnection in Space

Cited by 55 publications

References 166 publications

Drift waves, intense parallel electric fields, and turbulence associated with asymmetric magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause

Drift waves, intense parallel electric fields, and turbulence associated with asymmetric magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause

Evidence of strong energetic ion acceleration in the near-Earth magnetotail

Can magnetopause reconnection drive Saturn's magnetosphere?

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