Earth's Magnetotail

Abstract

Earth's magnetic tail (magnetotail) was discovered 50 years ago by the first spacecraft to fly downstream of Earth. The magnetotail is a complex structure created by the solar wind. The tail is in fact a very dynamic structure with many internal processes and rapid changes. The magnetospheric substorm is the name given to the collection of phenomena that occur throughout the magnetosphere at the time of an expansion of the aurora and westward electrojet near midnight. Convection bays are characterized by continuous southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Sawtooth events occur during stronger driving where it appears that no steady state is possible. Pseudo breakups tend to occur in the growth phase of substorms and precede its main onset. The phenomenon named poleward boundary intensification (PBI) is a brightening of aurora at the poleward edge of the auroral oval.