ARTEMIS-THEMIS observations of magnetotail dynamics driven by magnetic reconnection

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

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[2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [2764] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Sheet, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection

Scientific paper

The ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun) mission consists of two satellites (probes) extracted from the Earth-orbiting five probe THEMIS mission in 2009 and placed in lunar orbit in mid-2011. Prior to their insertion into lunar orbit, from October 2010 the two ARTEMIS probes P1 and P2 occupied Lissajous orbits around the 1st and 2nd lunar Lagrange points respectively (phase LL1,2). In Jan 2011, both probes were placed in orbit around the near-Earth Lagrange point (phase LL1). From this location, and complemented by the remaining THEMIS probes, ARTEMIS provided a new multi-spacecraft view of the Earth's mid-magnetotail, with a spacecraft separation baseline of 10 - 20 RE. A key goal of the ARTEMIS mission is to characterize the nature of magnetotail dynamics using two point measurements, with particular reference to the development of magnetic reconnection and formation of X-lines. To address this goal, we present the results of a survey for fast plasma flow in the magnetotail, made using ARTEMIS data acquired during the LL1,2 and LL1 mission phases. Between October 2010 and June 2011, the two ARTEMIS probes made 9 magnetotail crossings, each lasting 4 - 6 days. More than 80 intervals of interest are identified, including (a) examples of flow observed only by one spacecraft even with both in the plasma sheet, (b) examples where plasma sheet flow bursts were simultaneously observed by both spacecraft, (c) examples of simultaneous magnetosheath and magnetotail observation, including observations of boundary dynamics. Using case studies and statistical analysis, the typical properties of fast plasma flow bursts driven by reconnection in the magnetotail in the vicinity of lunar orbit are identified.

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