Cluster Observations of Non-steady Reconnection on the Magnetopause Under the Influence of Mirror Modes in the Magnetosheath

Details Cluster Observations of Non-steady Reconnection on the Magnetopause Under the Influence of Mirror Modes in the Magnetosheath Cluster Observations of Non-steady Reconnection on the Magnetopause Under the Influence of Mirror Modes in the Magnetosheath

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm31a1693l&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM31A-1693

Physics

2723 Magnetic Reconnection (7526, 7835), 2724 Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, 2752 Mhd Waves And Instabilities (2149, 6050, 7836), 7835 Magnetic Reconnection (2723, 7526)

Scientific paper

We report on two Cluster magnetopause crossing events under the following circumstances: the crossings took place near the subsolar point, the interplanetary magnetic field had a southward Z component, and mirror modes were present in the magnetosheath. In both events fast plasma flows are observed several times at the magnetopause. The typical duration of the flow observations is one minute, which agrees with the mirror mode timescale observed in the sheath. We interpret the flows as being outflow jets of non-steady reconnection, and the coincidence of timescales suggests that mirror modes may contribute to making magnetopause reconnection non-steady. Furthermore, in one of the two events the outflow jet direction also shows reversals of the velocity component in the antiparallel field direction, suggesting that in this case reconnection is non-steady not only temporally, but also spatially. We also present preliminary results from hybrid simulations on the effect of mirror modes on magnetopause reconnection.

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