Origin and Evolution of Plasmoids and Flux Ropes in the Magnetotails of Earth and Mars

Eastwood, J. P.; Kiehas, S. A.

doi:10.1002/9781118842324.ch16

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…Flux ropes are helical flux tubes with strong core fields formed in many regions of planetary magnetospheres, such as the magnetotail current sheet (see reviews by Eastwood & Kiehas, ; Hesse & Kivelson, ). Mechanisms for the formation of magnetic flux ropes include multiple X‐line reconnection in electron current layers (e.g., Daughton et al, ; Huang et al, ; R. S. Wang et al, ; R. Wang et al, ) and Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability (e.g., Huang et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipation of Earthward Propagating Flux Rope Through Re‐reconnection with Geomagnetic Field: An MMS Case Study

Poh

Slavin

et al. 2019

JGR Space Physics

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Three‐dimensional global hybrid simulations and observations have shown that earthward‐moving flux ropes (FRs) can undergo magnetic reconnection (or re‐reconnection) with the near‐Earth dipole field to create dipolarization front (DF)‐like signatures that are immediately preceded by brief intervals of negative BZ. The simultaneous erosion of the southward BZ field at the leading edge of the FR and continuous reconnection of lobe magnetic flux at the X‐line tailward of the FR result in the asymmetric south‐north BZ signature in many earthward‐moving FRs and possibly DFs with negative BZ dips prior to their observation. In this study, we analyzed Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) observation of fields and plasma signatures associated with the encounter of an ion diffusion region ahead of an earthward‐moving FR on 3 August 2017. The signatures of this re‐reconnection event were (i) +/− BZ reversal, (ii) −/+ bipolar‐type quadrupolar Hall magnetic fields, (iii) northward super‐Alfvénic electron outflow jet of ~1,000–1,500 km/s, (iv) Hall electric field of ~15 mV/m, (v) intense currents of ~40–100 nA/m2, and (vi) J·E′ ~0.11 nW/m3. Our analysis suggests that the MMS spacecraft encounters the ion and electron diffusion regions but misses the X‐line. Our results are in good agreement with particle‐in‐cell simulations of Lu et al. (2016, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022815). We computed a dimensionless reconnection rate of ~0.09 for this re‐reconnection event and through modeling, estimating that the FR would fully dissipate by −16.58 RE. We demonstrated pertubations in the high‐latitude ionospheric currents at the same time of the dissipation of earthward‐moving FRs using ground‐ and space‐based measurements.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipation of Earthward Propagating Flux Rope Through Re‐reconnection with Geomagnetic Field: An MMS Case Study

Poh

Slavin

et al. 2019

JGR Space Physics

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“…First, magnetic reconnection within magnetotail current sheets provides a straightforward explanation for the generation of Martian magnetotail flux ropes (Figure a), analogous to the terrestrial magnetotail plasmoid formation [e.g., Eastwood and Kiehas , , and references therein]. Indeed, several studies have demonstrated the presence of magnetic reconnection signatures in the Martian plasma environment [e.g., Eastwood et al , ; Halekas et al , ; Harada et al , , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the origins of magnetic flux ropes in near‐Mars magnetotail current sheets

Hara

Harada

Mitchell

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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We analyze Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) observations of magnetic flux ropes embedded in Martian magnetotail current sheets, in order to evaluate the role of magnetotail reconnection in their generations. We conduct a minimum variance analysis to infer the generation processes of magnetotail flux ropes from the geometrical configuration of the individual flux rope axial orientation with respect to the overall current sheet. Of 23 flux ropes detected in current sheets in the near‐Mars (∼1–3 Martian radii downstream) magnetotail, only 3 (possibly 4) can be explained by the magnetotail reconnection scenario, while the vast majority of the events (19 events) are more consistent with flux ropes that are originally generated in the dayside ionosphere and subsequently transported into the nightside magnetotail. The mixed origins of the detected flux ropes imply complex nature of generation and transport of Martian magnetotail flux ropes.

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“…Tailward flow is frequently punctuated by transients, such as plasmoids resulting from magnetospheric substorm events (see the recent reviews of McPherron 2015 andKiehas 2015). New observations of these flows in the deep tail (Opitz et al 2014 on both STA and STB observed 110-2200 keV ion enhancements corresponding to corotating interacting region (CIR) events.…”

Section: Advective Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Earth: Plasma Sources, Losses, and Transport Processes

et al. 2015

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This paper reviews the state of knowledge concerning the source of magnetospheric plasma at Earth. Source of plasma, its acceleration and transport throughout the system, its consequences on system dynamics, and its loss are all discussed. Both observational and modeling advances since the last time this subject was covered in detail (Hultqvist et al., Magnetospheric Plasma Sources and Losses, 1999) are addressed.

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Origin and Evolution of Plasmoids and Flux Ropes in the Magnetotails of Earth and Mars

Cited by 23 publications

References 114 publications

Dissipation of Earthward Propagating Flux Rope Through Re‐reconnection with Geomagnetic Field: An MMS Case Study

Dissipation of Earthward Propagating Flux Rope Through Re‐reconnection with Geomagnetic Field: An MMS Case Study

On the origins of magnetic flux ropes in near‐Mars magnetotail current sheets

The Earth: Plasma Sources, Losses, and Transport Processes

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