THEMIS multispacecraft observations of a reconnecting magnetosheath current sheet with symmetric boundary conditions and a large guide field
File(s)Oieroset_GRL_2017___accepted.pdf (910.83 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We report three spacecraft observations of a reconnecting magnetosheath current sheet with a guide field of unity, with THEMIS D (THD) and THEMIS E (THE)/THEMIS A (THA) observing oppositely directed reconnection exhausts, indicating the presence of an X line between the spacecraft. The near-constant convective speed of the magnetosheath current sheet allowed the direct translation of the observed time series into spatial profiles. THD observed asymmetries in the plasma density and temperature profiles across the exhaust, characteristics of symmetric reconnection with a guide field. The exhausts at THE and THA, on the other hand, were not the expected mirror image of the THD exhaust in terms of the plasma and field profiles. They consisted of a main outflow at the center of the current sheet, flanked by oppositely directed flows at the two edges of the current sheet, suggesting the presence of a second X line, whose outflow wraps around the outflow from the first X line.
Date Issued
2017-08-05
Date Acceptance
2017-07-18
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2017, 44 (15), pp.7598-7606
ISSN
0094-8276
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
7598
End Page
7606
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
44
Issue
15
Copyright Statement
©2017 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Øieroset, M., T. D. Phan, M. A. Shay, C. C. Haggerty, M. Fujimoto, V. Angelopoulos, J. P. Eastwood, and F. S. Mozer (2017), THEMIS multispacecraft observations of a reconnecting magnetosheath current sheet with symmetric boundary conditions and a large guide field, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 7598–7606, doi:10.1002/2017GL074196. To view the published version go to: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074196
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Grant Number
ST/N000692/1
Subjects
MD Multidisciplinary
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-08-05