2007
DOI: 10.1029/2007gl031492
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Five spacecraft observations of oppositely directed exhaust jets from a magnetic reconnection X‐line extending > 4.26 × 106 km in the solar wind at 1 AU

Abstract: Observations of oppositely directed plasma jets within an extended, bifurcated current sheet in the solar wind by a flotilla of five well‐separated spacecraft (STEREO A and B, ACE, Wind and Geotail) on 11 March 2007 demonstrate that magnetic reconnection X‐lines in the solar wind can extend to distances at least as great as 4.26 × 106 km (0.0284 AU) in the presence of a significant and variable guide field. The observations also indicate that reconnection in the solar wind can persist for at least 5 hours and … Show more

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Cited by 55 publications
(55 citation statements)
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References 21 publications
(27 reference statements)
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“…In the past very extended exhaust regions up to 390 R E and even 600 R E have been reported [Phan et al, 2006;Gosling et al, 2007]. Even such extended exhaust regions do not necessarily need X-lines of the same length but rather might be explained by skewed fields reconnection as shown in Figure 1.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…In the past very extended exhaust regions up to 390 R E and even 600 R E have been reported [Phan et al, 2006;Gosling et al, 2007]. Even such extended exhaust regions do not necessarily need X-lines of the same length but rather might be explained by skewed fields reconnection as shown in Figure 1.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…high speed plasma flows, a decrease of the magnetic field strength inside the exhaust and a simultaneous increase of proton temperature and number density, have recently been detected in the solar wind in association with coronal mass ejections, CMEs, in the low-speed wind and at the heliospheric current sheet. This subject has been studied by Gosling et al [2005Gosling et al [ , 2007, Gosling [2010], and Phan et al [2006] where comparisons have been made with the steady state Petschek type reconnection. Magnetic reconnection as a possible acceleration mechanism in connection with solar wind data had also been mentioned by Farrugia et al [2001].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In conclusion, although at scales of the order of 400 to 700 R E the reconnection process has been found to be surprisingly stationary in both space and time (e.g., Phan et al 2006;Gosling et al 2007a;2007b), the present observations of a reconnection exhaust at very widely separated spacecraft across the same HCS (over 1800 R E between ST-A and ST-B) highlights the fact that the reconnection process may become non-stationary, and certainly more complex, at such very large spatial and temporal scales in the solar wind.…”
Section: (B)mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Phan et al (2006) and Gosling et al (2007b)). The projection of the X-line orientation into the Y-Z GSE plane is shown in Figure 2(b) with a red dashed line.…”
Section: Observationsmentioning
confidence: 99%
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