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Publications

2011

Magnetic reconnection

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Cluster Observations Of Bow Shock Energetic Ion Transport Through The Magnetosheath Into The Cusp, K. J. Trattner, S. M. Petrinec, S. A. Fuselier, K. Nykyri, E. Kronberg Sep 2011

Cluster Observations Of Bow Shock Energetic Ion Transport Through The Magnetosheath Into The Cusp, K. J. Trattner, S. M. Petrinec, S. A. Fuselier, K. Nykyri, E. Kronberg

Publications

The observation of energetic particles by polar orbiting satellites in the magnetospheric cusp resulted in a controversy about their source region. It has been suggested that these cusp energetic particles (CEP) with significant fluxes from magnetosheath energies up to several hundred keV/e are accelerated locally in the cusp by the turbulence found in cusp diamagnetic cavities (CDC). As an alternative to the local acceleration region, the quasi‐parallel shock is successful as a source region for CEP events. Energetic ions accelerated at the bow shock can be transported downstream and enter the cusp along newly reconnected field lines. Composition and energy …


Cluster Observations Of A Cusp Diamagnetic Cavity: Structure, Size, And Dynamics, K. Nykyri, A. Otto, E. Adamson, E. Dougal, J. Mumme Mar 2011

Cluster Observations Of A Cusp Diamagnetic Cavity: Structure, Size, And Dynamics, K. Nykyri, A. Otto, E. Adamson, E. Dougal, J. Mumme

Publications

We have analyzed Cluster magnetic field and plasma data during high‐altitude cusp crossing and compared them with high‐resolution MHD simulations. Cluster encountered a diamagnetic cavity (DMC) during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, and as the IMF rotated southward, the spacecraft reencountered the cavity more at the sunward side of the cusp because the reconnection site had changed location. We found evidence of magnetic reconnection both during northward and southward IMF conditions. The Cluster separation was ∼5000 km, enabling for the first time measurements both inside the DMC and surrounding boundaries that allowed us to construct the structure of the …