Evidence for a flux transfer event generated by multiple X-line reconnection at the magnetopause

Physics

Scientific paper

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

Scientific paper

Magnetic flux transfer events (FTEs) are signatures of unsteady magnetic reconnection, often observed by spacecraft at planetary magnetopauses [Russell and Elphic, GRL, 1978]. Their generation mechanism, a key ingredient determining how they regulate the transfer of solar wind energy into magnetospheres, is still largely unknown. We report THEMIS multi-spacecraft observations on 2007-06-14 of an FTE generated by multiple X-line reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. The evidence consists of (1) two oppositely-directed ion jets converging toward the FTE that was traveling southward, i.e., into the winter hemisphere, (2) the cross-section of an associated flux rope being elongated along the magnetopause normal, probably squeezed by the oppositely-directed jets, and (3) bidirectional field-aligned fluxes of energetic electrons in the magnetosheath, indicating reconnection on both sides of the FTE. The observations agree well with results from global magnetohydrodynamic simulations of FTE generation for large geomagnetic dipole tilt [Raeder, Ann. Geophys., 2006], which suggests that the efficiency of magnetic flux transport into the magnetotail could be lower for larger dipole tilt [Hasegawa et al., GRL, 2010].

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