Cluster Observations of Magnetopause Reconnection at Sub-Proton Scales

Details Cluster Observations of Magnetopause Reconnection at Sub-Proton Scales Cluster Observations of Magnetopause Reconnection at Sub-Proton Scales

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm53b..02r&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM53B-02

Physics

Plasma Physics

[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2724] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, [2784] Magnetospheric Physics / Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection

Scientific paper

Magnetopause reconnection has been studied for decades by using observations from many spacecraft. Yet the microphysics of reconnection, i.e. the physics at proton scales and below, is still poorly understood from an observational point of view. Studying the microphysics is crucial for understanding how reconnection starts (onset), how it evolves in time (rate) and how ions and electrons are heated/accelerated. Here we present novel ESA/Cluster observations of reconnection at the subsolar magnetopause, where two spacecraft are separated by ~10 km (sub-proton scale) while being apart ~ 10000 km (fluid scale) from the others. The two-point measurements at sub-proton scales allow to identify a very thin rotational discontinuity having a thickness of about 10 electron gyroradii. The thin discontinuity is associated to a strong parallel current and electron heating in field-aligned directions. Electromagnetic turbulence in the whistler frequency range is observed within the rotational discontinuity. We interpret the observations as a crossing of the reconnection electron diffusion region. We discuss the relevance of Cluster measurements of reconnection at sub-proton scales for the science of the upcoming NASA/MMS mission.

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