Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison
Abstract We report a Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS‐D) spacecraft crossing of a magnetopause reconnection exhaust ~9 ion skin depths (di) downstream of an X line. The crossing was characterized by ion jetting at speeds substantially below the predicted re...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070224 |
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| author | T. D. Phan M. A. Shay C. C. Haggerty J. T. Gosling J. P. Eastwood M. Fujimoto K. Malakit F. S. Mozer P. A. Cassak M. Oieroset V. Angelopoulos |
| author_facet | T. D. Phan M. A. Shay C. C. Haggerty J. T. Gosling J. P. Eastwood M. Fujimoto K. Malakit F. S. Mozer P. A. Cassak M. Oieroset V. Angelopoulos |
| author_sort | T. D. Phan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We report a Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS‐D) spacecraft crossing of a magnetopause reconnection exhaust ~9 ion skin depths (di) downstream of an X line. The crossing was characterized by ion jetting at speeds substantially below the predicted reconnection outflow speed. In the magnetospheric inflow region THEMIS detected (a) penetration of magnetosheath ions and the resulting flows perpendicular to the reconnection plane, (b) ion outflow extending into the magnetosphere, and (c) enhanced electron parallel temperature. Comparison with a simulation suggests that these signatures are associated with the gyration of magnetosheath ions onto magnetospheric field lines due to the shift of the flow stagnation point toward the low‐density magnetosphere. Our observations indicate that these effects, ~2–3 di in width, extend at least 9 di downstream of the X line. The detection of these signatures could indicate large‐scale proximity of the X line but do not imply that the spacecraft was upstream of the electron diffusion region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c1e3e78cbd442d2a0b64c5096e8e2db |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c1e3e78cbd442d2a0b64c5096e8e2db2025-08-20T03:09:52ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072016-09-0143178844885210.1002/2016GL070224Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparisonT. D. Phan0M. A. Shay1C. C. Haggerty2J. T. Gosling3J. P. Eastwood4M. Fujimoto5K. Malakit6F. S. Mozer7P. A. Cassak8M. Oieroset9V. Angelopoulos10Space Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley California USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Delaware Newark Delaware USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Delaware Newark Delaware USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USAThe Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London London UKISAS/JAXA Kanagawa JapanDepartment of Physics Mahidol University Bangkok ThailandSpace Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley California USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy West Virginia University Morgantown West Virginia USASpace Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley California USADepartment of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles California USAAbstract We report a Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS‐D) spacecraft crossing of a magnetopause reconnection exhaust ~9 ion skin depths (di) downstream of an X line. The crossing was characterized by ion jetting at speeds substantially below the predicted reconnection outflow speed. In the magnetospheric inflow region THEMIS detected (a) penetration of magnetosheath ions and the resulting flows perpendicular to the reconnection plane, (b) ion outflow extending into the magnetosphere, and (c) enhanced electron parallel temperature. Comparison with a simulation suggests that these signatures are associated with the gyration of magnetosheath ions onto magnetospheric field lines due to the shift of the flow stagnation point toward the low‐density magnetosphere. Our observations indicate that these effects, ~2–3 di in width, extend at least 9 di downstream of the X line. The detection of these signatures could indicate large‐scale proximity of the X line but do not imply that the spacecraft was upstream of the electron diffusion region.https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070224magnetic reconnectionmagnetopausediffusion region |
| spellingShingle | T. D. Phan M. A. Shay C. C. Haggerty J. T. Gosling J. P. Eastwood M. Fujimoto K. Malakit F. S. Mozer P. A. Cassak M. Oieroset V. Angelopoulos Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison Geophysical Research Letters magnetic reconnection magnetopause diffusion region |
| title | Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison |
| title_full | Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison |
| title_fullStr | Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison |
| title_short | Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison |
| title_sort | ion larmor radius effects near a reconnection x line at the magnetopause themis observations and simulation comparison |
| topic | magnetic reconnection magnetopause diffusion region |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070224 |
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